by SAMANTHA SIRIMANNE HYDE

Travelling Back

a tanka string from Colombo, Sri Lanka

monsoon rain…
faltering at the temple
with a lotus bloom
I’m back with grandma
at her ancestral shrine

the tuk tuk stops
at our childhood gate
to a vacant plot
I see us on a straw mat
dad pointing out Orion

squid ink skies
recalling the laughter
amid sorrows
your ashes buried
under a neem tree

tropical beach
this spectacular sunset
saddens me…
when did I understand
this is no longer home?