Dust rises in the Streets
Sounds of gunshots cease,
Guns disappear in waist belts,
Jeeps growl,
Dust rises.

Wind swallows
Grief.
The streets
Fill with blood,
Flies fall
And wither on the earth.
Sometimes
A street dog
Lifts its tail and sniffs.

All the same
The world stands still
Embracing the peace,

In an instant
Gun shots will explode
The quiet will shatter
Flies
And street dogs, sometimes,
Will take up arms.

The wind, grief-laden
Will shudder,
As if to say
"That is the way it is
in between times."

Translated by Lakshmi Holmstrom;
First published in ute Song and Lament: Tamil Writings from Sri Lanka, Ed. Chelva Kanaganayagam. TSAR Publications, 2001.

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