Duwa Sienna

Spreading her eyes wide, looking at us,
showing a smile on the little face,
bathing the world in a milk-sweet fragrance,
she brings sweetness, drawing us together

They say she is a queen, brightening our world,
they say the sorrows and troubles have all gone away..
even weaving song-words and melodies is not enough,
daughter Sienna… they say she brought happiness

Like the ray of the morning sun,
like the white moon shining at night,
like the fragrance of flowers across a garden,
like the cooling comfort of peace

They say she is a queen, brightening our world,
they say the sorrows and troubles have all gone away..
even weaving song-words and melodies is not enough,
daughter Sienna… they say she brought happiness..

This is a tender song a father wrote for his baby daughter, and her name gives it its title: Duwa Sienna, daughter Sienna. It opens on the tiny, ordinary miracles of a newborn, her eyes opening wide to look at her parents, a smile breaking on the little face, the milk-sweet scent of a baby that seems to bathe the whole world and draw the family close.

The chorus is pure joy, and it keeps saying so with the gentle Sinhala tag lu, they say. She is a little queen who brightens their world, and all their sorrows and troubles have simply gone away. Even weaving together song-words and melodies, the father admits, is not enough to hold what he feels, and yet the plain fact stands: daughter Sienna brought happiness.

The last verse is a garland of comparisons, each reaching for something pure and comforting to match her: she is like the ray of the morning sun, like the white moon shining at night, like the fragrance of flowers across a garden, like the cool relief of peace itself. It is one of those rare songs written for a child rather than a lover, and its warmth is the simple, overflowing gratitude of a parent.