Laksiri Warnakula

I penned these few humorous (hope so) verses in the hope that they would take your mind away, at least for a few moments, from ‘the maddening, never-ending chronicles of conspiracy and corruption’ in present-day Sri Lanka. 

Once upon a time in hell,
There was this devil,
Who being a unique model,
Liked to play it a bit level.

One day he hopped on a gale,
And set sail,
Seeing the world at will,
With glee and smile.

Then he saw a small isle,
Sitting in the middle,
Of a vast pool of blue,
And green, yet, a little pale.

Down he landed with a chuckle,
And now in disguise like a local,
Started walking the isle,
Enjoying the vile and beaming at the evil.

Now he came upon a small castle,
Standing by this beautiful canal,
And saw many, in the white national,
Going in, some old, some young and agile.

Intrigued entered the king of evil,
Whispering to the men at the door ‘I am the devil’,
And showed some of his tail,
Adding a vicious snarl.

They were scared like hell,
Caught in a hypnotic spell,
And let His Majesty the evil,
Walk in with no hassle.

Looking down many an aisle,
He went to the end of the hall,
Sat down with a chuckle,
And listened to all that babble and cackle.

Suddenly broke loose all hell,
Men young and old running pell-mell,
And as they began to whistle and wrestle,
Stood up our devil saying ‘what the hell’.

He jumped in the middle,
Bellowing ‘I am the Devil’,
Yelling ‘stop the tussle,
Behave you demons well’.

Then he felt the tickle and the tugging,
And nervously felt for his tail,
Suddenly turning very pale,
Looking like a chalk-white devil.

For there was only a hole,
And finding no sign of his tail,
He ran out letting out a devilish howl,
And a mournful wail.

No one heard him yell,
For the ruckus was still going well,
And for the one with the devils’ tail,
It was a talisman to keep away the Devil.

Now on his way back to the hell,
The one who was, once a fair devil,
Lost his devilish cool,
Screamed, ‘never again to this bloody isle’.

So here ends the tale,
Of the poor devil,
Who went back to hell,
Without his thorny tail.

The message – Even ‘the Devil’ is not safe in this ‘land like no other’!

Laksiri Warnakula