By Annie Newcomer:
The Flapper Press Café is honored to feature the work of poets from around the globe. This week, we are proud to present more poetry from Indunil Madhusankha Hewage.
Indunil Madhusankha Hewage is originally from Sri Lanka and is currently a Doctoral Student and a Graduate Teaching Assistant from the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Washington State University. His pastimes include creative writing, philately, numismatics, and photography. Indunil’s literary works have been featured in many international journals and magazines.
We reached out Indunil to ask him about his influences, his work, and what inspires him to write:
FP: Indunil, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and why you write poetry?
IMH: I am a graduate student from the PhD program in the Department of Mathematics at Washington State University. Even though I am academically involved with Mathematics, I have ardently cherished arts and literature all my life. My creative writing generally intends to celebrate the beauty of nature, to critique cultural and sociopolitical issues, as well as to explore miscellaneous facets of the human spirit. I am of the view that all forms of art—including poetry, portraiture, and photography—are intricately connected and complement one another, thus endowing the spectator with a nourishing experience.
FP: Please tell us about your influences, favorite poets, authors, etc., and why.
IMH: I have been prodigiously inspired by the writings of such great English poets as William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, W. B. Yeats, and Wilfred Owen. I am simply amazed by their exquisite workmanship, the universal appeal of thematic choices, and the timeless nature of the work of these literary giants. In fact, there are many other great writers around the world, both contemporary and past, whose works have had a considerable influence on my writing.
I am Scared of the Night
(Previously published in Tuck Magazine on 13th October, 2015)
As the dusk creeps
through the summit
the once luscious sun
dips below the rocky mounts
And flocks of birds soar away
weaving intricate patterns
in the grayish sky
Thus the goddess of darkness,
the night
wielding her power
right throughout
while the crickets creak
in their shrill monotonic tune
Hovering round a towering tree
the giant bats
striking their huge wings
with the ghostly shadows
that look like gothic spectres
The stagnant silence long – standing
A silence that has diverse faces
A silence that prickles the souls
immersed in deep sleep
A silence that makes me scared of the night
About the Poem: From the days of yore, countless poets have been enamored of the splendor of a star-studded night sky; but for me, the night is somewhat of a scary time.
He Is a Fisherman
(Previously published in the international anthology of poetry “Temptation” by Lost Tower Publications on 18th January, 2016)
He is a fisherman,
shrewd and seasoned
He has a line
with a workable bait,
the bait of love
rich with ostentatious gesticulations
and highly appealing flirtations
He uses it to catch the fish
that falls easy prey
to the jazzy beauty and
vitality of the bait
He, then, greedily gulps down the flesh of the fish
Finished.
Leaving the skeleton alone,
the fisherman goes in search of another fish,
pretty with iridescent fangs
About the Poem: This poem is about those lascivious men who make friends with women only to quench their carnal thirst and abandon them afterwards.
Wake Up and Shout Out!
(In protest of the incident of a five-year-old girl being mercilessly assassinated after a brutal sexual harassment on September 12th, 2015, in the Kotadeniyawa area of Sri Lanka. Published in the 2016 October issue of Sentinel Literary Quarterly.)
She was just five
Now reclining mutely inside
the wooden box
lost in a deep siesta
All day long she would
sprint here and there
in the compound
Stalking with her hands clasped together
to catch the butterflies
that were buzzing around
the flowery bushes
Or she would cook some sand rice
using a coconut shelf as a mould
and urge her mother to eat them
While jumping from square to square
sketched in the courtyard
she would incessantly blabber
some lines of songs
that she heard playing on the radio
Such a chatterbox
sleeping long in the daytime
without muttering a word
No, no way,
She must be masquerading as asleep
just to act fool with her mother
How could her tiny childish thighs bear it?
Perhaps she screamed
while cold tears poured down
her fresh rosy cheeks
And then, there was this noose
made out of a strip of cloth
that tightened around her slender neck
Oh, little girl,
You can’t vanish into the soil like that
Wake up from sleep,
march along the streets
and shout out
for the sake of your sisters!
About the Poem: This poem expresses profound condemnation against the sexual abuse and ruthless murder of a five-year-old girl in 2015 that triggered an avalanche of protests nationwide.
It Is a Laborious Climb!
I am yet at its very foot
Tangled in a brown study
The very start itself seems so throbbing
I can clearly see its crystal crest though
Shimmering with the sun’s silvery rays
Peeking from behind the lofty summit
The scene is so pious and enthralling
I just yearn to plunge to the very pinnacle
At an instantaneous jump
Alas, I am still at its very base
It is a long laborious journey ahead
The end is the perpetual bliss of emancipation
The climb is quite chaotic and exacting
I will never give up though
I should begin now and go ahead
Of course, it is better to be late than never
About the Poem: The ultimate goal of every Buddhist is to become enlightened and attain nirvana—a transcendental state of mind that is the most supreme of all freedom and happiness. However, reaching nirvana is an arduous endeavor—it necessitates an intense level of patience, sacrifice, and the renouncement of all worldly pleasures.
FlapperPress launches the Flapper Press Poetry Café.
Presenting a wide range of poetry with a mission to promote a love and understanding of poetry for all. We welcome submissions for compelling poetry and look forward to publishing and supporting your creative endeavors. Submissions may also be considered for the Pushcart Prize.
Submission Guidelines:
1. Share at least three (3) poems
2. Include a short bio of 50–100 words, written in the third person.
(Plus any website and links.)
3. Share a brief backstory on each submitted poem
4. Submit an Author's photo and any images you want to include with the poems
5. Send all submissions and questions to: info@flapperpress.com