"PITAKOTUWA" ( PETTAH)

The sky gone feeble and dim 

though the usual sun burns bright

I see

outside the blurred window

next to a tall building -once I look straight,

behind a round shaped tower-

the second I look down

Is he kidding me?

I move to and fro

trying to catch a glimpse,

the bus slows down..and I walk out

along the narrow pavement

dampened by the night's showers

mud pools surrounded like guards

chuck! chuck !as I jump on them

ouch! the trousers wet!

stinking vegetable trolleys,

broken tins and bottles 

empty cans and rotten dregs

loathing and nauseating

men backpacked with rice bags 

bums wrapped in dirty rags

couched on doorsteps 

along a row of shacks 

and some double crossed ,seated on the floor 

moaning hungrily - yearning for bread.

The birds flutter

to the sicken wind

as men walk by ,hurriedly

for their chores 

before the red lines crossed