Dearest Sri Lanka – an Ode

 

Dearest Sri Lanka,

Hi,
I’m a girl – just like your many daughters,
I’m a student – just like your many children.
I don’t stay within your beautiful boundaries, marked by the oceans that run past my vision.
I don’t eat the food you relish after long days away from home.
I don’t understand your language or the arts of your people.
The way you function as a country or the treasure that lies within your culture.

But I, so far away, feel the ache you do.
I watch the news and see only pain and suffering washed across my screen.
I can’t reach out to you, to help you and your people;
only silently watch and mutter prayers. 
I stare with horror, as recordings play on loop; 290 and counting, dead.
Bomb blasts through your country on such holy a day. 

Easter. Christianity’s biggest celebration. Christ re-born.
Meant to welcome the oncoming spring,
a time for peace, love and care.
Nurturing and being nurtured.
Flowers bloom and the wind picks up pace,
the fragrance of fresh Earth surrounding,
mother’s ever – loving.

Multitudes of your people, singing hymns and wishing each other “peace be with you”.
Multitudes of your people, quietly dining and commenting on the magnificent weather in their cosy hotels.
Loving each other and relishing in arms of their home.
Children giggling, grandparents praying earnestly.

No.
Now there exists chaos amongst your hearts.
Fear and suffering.
The Earth is covered with the blood of your people,
the flowers no longer blooming.

 

 

On Sunday, 21st April, Sri Lanka witnessed a horrifying set of 8 suicide bombings; three churches in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa as well as three high-end hotels in the heart and capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo.

The 7th and 8th blasts happened at a hotel in front of the Dehiwala Zoo and at a private house in Mahawila Gardens, in Dematagoda.

A guesstimated 290 people were declared dead, 35 of which were international victims, with around 500+ injured and rushed to nearby hospitals.

A 9th blast occurred earlier on Monday, 22nd April, on a street near a church in Colombo, one the vehicles used by the attackers exploded as security forces tried to defuse explosives left inside.

While the motive behind the inhumane attacks is still to be found, 24 suspects have been arrested by officials.

An island-wide emergency has been declared starting midnight of 22nd April with a curfew imposed from 8 p.m to 4 a.m on Tuesday, which has also been declared as a national day of mourning.

~ Written by Melissa Carlo for MTTN
~ Images Courtesy: Reuters and Google Images 

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