By Dilantha Gunawardana
Our oldest success story was how
Our physical strengths could tame nature in all its might.
The youngest success story is how evolution
Took away a bone called a baculum from mankind,
And made him extra special on day-one
Inside the garden of Eden. We were not taught
To love as monkeys, period. We were all
Survivors of our fittest brawn that stands now
As the deepest vulnerability. That beautiful moment
Came the night that you plunged headlong to an eternity.
It was always about how you lifted the machinery.
It was no ballista which was a large sling shot,
It was no mangonel which means “engine of war”,
It was no trebuchet, which was measured
By counterweight, as a gargantuan catapult.
It was only the fitting moment when the pealed
Flesh of counter-creature, invigorates
A pointing object primed for love making.
It is where one’s own canals of Venice,
Transformed to high-pressure faucets, learning that
Some moments are extra special. There are places that blood gushes to,
The squeeze of a tourniquet, that arms
Courage to a soldier of fortune, who braves
The biological clocks to transcend the
Arboreal ones with lengthy tails, to let go of
One miserly bone, to transform the old fashioned,
Into a modern-day romance almost
Jane Austen-like in organic beauty. Love is perhaps
The greatest chivalry mankind is capable of –
Giving another a most beautiful agony.
The sheer beauty of it all was that it was no prized bone,
That made Mr Darcy, an English hero; it was Beautiful Elizabeth.
Unknown to her, there was Something covertly pointing at her,
A beautiful product tinkered by evolution
Stronger than any
One of Cupid’s arrows.
Dilantha Gunawardana is a molecular biologist by training who graduated from the University of Melbourne, yet identifies himself, as a wordsmith, papadum thief, “Best Laksa” seeker, poet of accident and fluke, hoop-addict, a late bloomer on all fronts, ex-quiz-druggy and humor-artist, who is still learning the craft of poetry. Dilantha has two anthologies of poetry, Kite Dreams (2016) and Driftwood (2017), published by Sarasavi Publishers. Dilantha was awarded the prize for “The emerging writer of the year – 2016” in the Godage National Literary Awards, Sri Lanka, while being shortlisted for the poetry prize, in the same awards ceremony.
