Shirani Rajapakse

Fallen Leaves Shirani Rajapakse

She tried to recall the day he walked out, the day she last saw him and the exact moment she heard his voice on the phone assuring her all was well. And then no more. What happened? What went wrong? She would never know. There was no one left to respond, and those that were there didn't dare speak up as the reasons for what took place didn't make sense so they kept quiet and hoped in time she would understand. Conflict raged in the tiny island nation of Sri Lanka for close to three decades. People from all walks of life, ethnic, religious and age groups suffered. The Tamil terrorists disrupted life and property all over the country for three decades, while for a few years in the late 1980s a Marxist guerilla group caused chaos, but this was soon wiped out. The Tamil terrorists however took much longer. These poems are a reflection of the time. They take on voices of people from across the divide and speak of the incredible loss the people all suffered.