Dr. Kamala Wijeratne, SRI LANKA

Exclusive: Best of Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

A WOMAN

‘A woman is appointed’ one said aloud shocked.

‘A woman to such high office?’ another mocked.

‘A woman to a place where the heart of the nation throbbed!’

Another with doubt and disdain quipped.

‘Shame! Chaos and blunder’ a cynic lamented.

‘Surely a political stooge!’ a wisecrack shouted.

‘Nepotism and corruption’ FB fans posted.

‘This is the end’ the media reported.

The males of the species watched, disconcerted.

The woman began her actions with decision.

‘She keeps awake all the night hours.’

A skeptic noted, ‘reading all past reports’

‘That is a delaying tactic”, the wisecrack said,

with intent to hinder.

‘She’s going back to the past’ they criticized.

‘She has a new report, a new plan of action’

a positive thinker conceded.

‘She’ll take decisive action’ a media person beamed.

‘She will sack all those at default’ the secretary informed.

‘That is us’ they all whimpered.

‘Oh! the woman of the species.

She’s done the deed’ everyone shouted.

Dr. Kamala Wijeratne was awarded the Sahitya Ratna, Life Time Award- which is given to a writer once in a lifetime for her contribution to literature, in Sri Lanka. Previously she has received awards from the state for her poetry (2004) as well as for her short fiction (2013,2015) besides the Godage Prize (a prestigious publishing House in Sri Lanka) for her short fiction (2013 and 2015) and her poetry (2017). She is a well-known educationist, teacher trainer and curriculum designer. She has eleven volumes of poetry to her credit. In 2019 she ventured to write her first novel.  

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020