Love at Grantham 1

 

I have been here before,

But when or how I cannot tell:

I know the grass beyond the door,

The sweet keen smell,

The sighing sound, the lights around the shore

පැමිණ ඇත මම මීට පෙර මෙහි,
නමුත් කවදාද කෙසේද කිව නොහැක මට:
දොරෙන් එපිට තණපත් හඳුනමි මම,
මිහිරි ඉසියුම් සුවඳ,
සුසුම් හඬ, වෙරළ වටා විදුලි පහන්

                             - Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The purple blossoms in the meadows were succumbing to the mild 
winds of spring.The train station and the purple hills beyond 
the grassy fields were portrayed like a splattered watercolor 
painting on the tall glass windows of the school's library.

Wistaria was sinking over an old book with brown, vintage papers 
filled with exquisite English words that was on the library 
table by the window. A dark shelf downstairs in the library 
held that book until she got there. Wistaria first learned the 
English word for biodiversity today. 'Biodiversity' fascinatedly 
grasped her mind. With a heart that flutters with happiness, 
she lifted her head from the book, and her gaze rested on
 the brow of a boy who was immersed in a notebook.

His eyes may have drifted along the notebook, but he didn't 
move. Wistaria's whole body trembled, as if a stream of light 
were drawing through a pitch-black tunnel, and her legs 
became numb. Had the bell not rung at the end of the library 
period, she would have fallen there.

The boy rose from his seat at the ringing of the bell and 
must have disappeared over the bridge connecting the library 
and the school grounds. Wistaria has no qualms about diving 
into a fairy tale book. But how does one condense on a maths 
book like diving into a book of fairy tales? She dashed to 
the classroom, throwing her icy hands to the April sun. 

ඔබ හිටියෙ පැරණි පුස්තකාල මේසයක
උපැස් යුවල අතරින් ගණනකට ඇස් යොමාගෙන
සීත සෘතුවේ හිම කැටිත්තක් මෙන් ගල් වෙලා
මම මිදී ගියා එක වර ම ඔබ ඇස් මත

like a snowflake in winter
I was frozened at your gaze 

- Shasika Amali Munasinghe