http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/srilanka.html
By B. R. Gowani
Sri Lanka’s geographic shape
Resembles a teardrop
A teardrop on a beloved’s cheek
Is frequently compared to a pearl
Poets and lovers see beauty in it
And advise not to let it drop
Alas! Sri Lanka is no more a pearl
Now that teardrop has in its lap
State and LTTE terror
Rapes and assaults
Refugees and ration-queues
Blood and corpses
Grief and lament
Orphans and widows
Once, long ago
Sri Lanka gave the World’s first hospital
Today, the state wounds and kills
Buddha’s enlightenment: not to desire anything
The State’s greed: not to grant a bit-autonomy
This pearl, Nature-created
But now, human-crushed
Is on a path to peace?
That’s what the rulers think
Naïve? they are not
Narcissist, they sure are
Afghans, Kashmiris, Palestinians, …
They did not disappear
And so some LTTE version will reappear
Meanwhile, the state will proclaim VICTORY
Whereas in fact
The teardrop has turned into
An ocean of tears
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com