A precise characterization of these poems by path-breaking Sinhala short story writer, poet, critic and commentator, Ajith Thilakasena, is that they speak poignantly to both heart and mind. In these poems, Thilakasena could be considers as continuing from where he left off in his short stories, by breaking and transcending conventional controls on both content and form in contemporary Sinhala Literature.

It has always been this reviewer’s assessment that Thilakasena is far ahead of his times. He is easily, the most important practitioner, for instance, of the Sinhala short story form since the iconic Martin Wickremasinghe. The latter was both a pioneer and trail-blazer in Sinhala short story writing. Essentially, Wickremasinghe brought within the purview of the local short story the life of the ordinary people with all its ‘blood, sweat and tears’. He expanded the social canvas of Sinhala creative writing to cover not only the so-called genteel of the land but also the working class and peasantry.

Thilakasena perpetuates Wickremasinghe’s concern of making literature vibrantly responsive to evolving social reality. Thilakasena’s short stories, essentially, expand the social frontiers of the contemporary Sinhala short story to cover post 1977 Sri Lanka in all its complexity and harshness. Thilakasena never flinches from encapsulating the moral degeneration and decay characteristic of the present and this could be considered his principal strength. This acute social awareness he combines with a masterly use of spoken Sinhala.

Facets of the thematic content of Thilakasena’s short stories and of his medium of expression are manifest in ‘Maariyawe’. As in the case of his short stories, the poet manages to portray the inner lives of his characters unsentimentally and realistically in his poems and this could be singled out as one of their defining qualities. The tensions and stresses in interpersonal relations and the relation these bear to social reality, are brought out with a deftness and sureness of touch which is rare. The innovative craftsmanship of the poet is also manifested in his sensitive use of the spoken idiom.

Ironic detachment is a hallmark of Thilakasena as a short story writer and this crucial artistic stance is carried over into his poems. This sensibility enables the poet to distance himself from his subject, treat it unsentimentally and with a remarkable degree of objectivity. This is as it should be because contemporary Sri Lanka and its spiritual, moral and social decay could be best comprehended by only a detached, unemotional observer and not by those who tend to view the country idealistically.

The poet evinces an acute awareness of the transience of life in many of these poems and these facets of existence are implicitly related to the sterility and spiritual nullity of con temporary society. The first and second poems in the collection, ’Ai’ ( Why ) and ‘Medaa’ ( Today), for example, express the pain of separation but perceive these experiences as fleeting, evanescent moments in time and space, at the heart of which there exists only nothingness.

Identity-eroding social change is the subject of ‘Madhusamaya’ ( Honey Moon ), where a bride groom is left wondering why he should bring his bride to a Five-star hotel, suggestive of a culturally-alienating social environment, when they have thus far been enriched by a centuries-long, indigenous, cultural heritage. A loss of identity is the lot of those of those who are caught-up in the maelstrom of economic globalization.

‘Bar Paradi’ ( At Bar Rd. ) speaks of the depersonalization that envelopes persons and cultures that have unreservedly exposed themselves to alien civilizational influences. For those torn apart by these processes of change, a sense of rootedness and belonging cannot be hoped for.

‘Maariyawe’, therefore, promises highly rewarding reading. The collection is a veritable window to not only Thilakasena’s poetic capability but to also his evolving awareness of Sri Lanka’s acutely painful dilemmas.