Mottu-Mottu

The way my grand-daughter said "goodbye"

she came from a far-away country
to the mother-land of Sri Lanka
for a brief holiday in last November
stayed with us for a month and gone

she was only twenty one months old
and right away she captured our hearts
always smiling when she woke up
she used to come and greet the two of us

I taught her a new play called "mottu-mottu"
in it you keep telling that word
while slowly coming face to-face of each other
till you touch other's temple with yours!

at the airport while we said "goodbye"
she came to me and called me "seeya"
which is "grand-dad" in Sinhalese
and started to greet me with her "mottu-mottu"

when the plane disappeared above the Indian ocean
in that dark and cold evening in last December
all I could think was the way she said "goodbye"
with her ever-loving "mottu-mottu"