9th Issue (September, 2008)

When a Child is Born
(a tribute to Asalha full-moon day)

Rev. Upali

When a child is born,
Innocent, it will stare
Gradually to be cruelly torn
In identity, – the wild snare.

That makes him proud and boast
Of where he belongs;
And forget humanity the most
In constrained dividing songs.

His nation would claim,
But, to hate the others.
He would love but only his name;
And thrust others in hateful smothers.

Oh Human, my sincere plea,
In what illusion do you teach a child
To boast and hate others for identity?
Let him wake and be human, not wild.

Let him make the world his home,
Let him make love his religion,
Let him be free and happily roam,
In this boundless world of hope, in cooperation.

(17.07.2008 Thursday; Peradeniya University Vihara -PUV)