Rhythm of Life

Rhythm of Life (Poetry)  
by Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge  
Published by Godage International Publishers   

Foreword    

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge has written many books. I have read one, wish I had read more. ‘71 Karella’ was class. Obviously he had done a great service to history in Sri Lanka by placing on record all those who stood up to change the tide in the ‘71 uprising. They deserved their stories to be archived in print. Three cheers to Ruwan for writing the truth.  Now he is onto poetry. ‘Rhythm of Life’ is simple. It has loneliness, love and people, all expressed in words that do not chase Whitman or Emily Dickinson. Nor is Ruwan a Rod McKuen. He is just Ruwan, medicine man, writer and a searcher for truth in a world of abstract values. I have never met him, know him only by his words. That is enough if one cares to read deep.  ‘Fiddler’ was great, ‘Monika Bay’ I love, ‘The Alien’ and ‘Street Walker’ tug at heart strings. Many poems are on a romantic platform; is he writing poetry or his own story? How would I know?  Ali Bumaye takes us to Kinshasa, Woody Allen fights Marciano and Stallone runs in Philadelphia. All this intermix with Lennon, Andy Gibb and the Gambler Rogers. This is poetry for melancholy moods to see some light. Maybe in some philosophical ways to understand life.  

Capt Elmo Jayawardena