Graveyard My Back Garden, my cup of latte

I'm not a seasoned reader of English poems by any means. But when Amali gifted her two newly released books as a present, it included her maiden English poem book, 'Graveyard My Back Garden’.

The author herself divides the book into two segments: 'Meteors and fireflies' and ‘crows and carcasses’.

Going through the poems one by one, I felt like having a latte. A dark coffee cup topped with frothed milk without sugar, that’s how I usually take it. I prefer to use coffee brewed out of my little moka pot and top it up with frothed milk without sugar. My cup of latte! That's how I felt about Amali's poem.

Most of the poems she drafts have two sides, not like two sides of a coin, but rather two sides of the moon, one light and shiny, one dark and gloomy.

 

My star:

Without you

Loneliness

Is the universe.

 

The first segment of the book is like frothy, bubbly, creamy milk without sugar. It is soft, white, and light. If you dig deep, you'll see the black coffee beneath, makes its way up through the milk.

The second segment is like a dark black coffee. Thick, dark, and bitter. However, it has a slight milky lightness, like milk foam mixing from above.

“An odd one, aren’t you?”

The broker flashes a toothless smile.

“Who else would want to buy a house by the

Crematorium?

You feel like taste the sweetness out of bitterness and dig deep.

I deeply like how she goes about parables. I feel like she picks things from way above. stars, galaxies, fireflies, the moon etc. Through her poems, she displays her ability to run your mind a mile a minute! She creates superb visuals through her carefully crafted expressions. Sometimes I feel she is in between short stories and poems too as some of her poems tell us a story in a short form, and I think that's her speciality as well.

They lived happily ever after.

Three consorts,

Ten concubines,

Three mistresses,

A handful of palace maids later,

Came a majestic baby elephant, a white lotus, and a decade late pregnancy.

Then I saw him eyeing you loveliest Gotami,

The beloved sister of mine

I translated some of her poems into Sinhala, which I'm going to post separately.

Good luck and hugs my friend!