Looking in the mirror- (3)

| by Basil Fernando


[ February 27, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian]

A President’s adviser
Goes to Vavuniya
Meets the wretched of the earth
The people displaced by a foolish war.

Besides the people, civil servants talk
Tell the adviser of
the lack of means
To do their duties.

The adviser coolly replies
It is all the fault of the British Administration
Having created an unworkable system,
And happily moves away.

Let us look in the mirror
As Siri Nanyana Guru taught
the Keralites to do
And see our faces mocking us.

The mirror asks us
Is this a joke
Or serious advice
Perhaps one is no different to the other.