city's hot-shot disco -
Gents allowed in with a fee.
Ladies welcome - yes, for free.
Colombo City Hilton groove
magnetise your traveller -
a white woman eyes a rusty brown man,
a yellow man watches gyrating clove woman.
In sarees and suits they are jiving
hot pants and jeans keep on palming
minis and tights live with jumping
kurtas and salwars in samba.
Your floor is a patchwork of feeling.
From drunken and luscious to lewd.
From reggae rhythms to techno mania,
sweat drips without cultural barrier.
and I read in the news
that the bodies of children
were found on the frontlines
where gunshots resounded
and troops knelt and wept by their side
"the rebels fired
more than 10 bombs"
the newsreader barely
startled.
"the troops recovered
bodies totalling
20 young girls,
16 young boys"
"they hurtle the children
like live human bombs -
once they capture or kidnap,
they lure them."
brianwashed battalion
believing in battle
even 10 year olds
die by conscription.
(c) Charlene Rajendran 1999
