27 March 2012

A BEAUTIFUL NECKLACE

A BEAUTIFUL NECKLACE 
© Farouk Asvat 

          They set her on fire
          With a box of matches.

Chasing her down the gravel streets of the township
They poured petrol over her delightful body
Fastened her petite hands with frayed ropes
Crucified her elegant face with barbed wire
Imprisoned her slim waist with goodyear tyre
Garotted her delicate neck with hanger wire
Pushed her exuberant body onto the funeral pyre
And placed a little rock on her heavy chest
     Knowing
     She was sheep for the slaughter
     Immaculate Iphegenia for the pagans
     Innocent Ismail for the will of God
     She quietly accepted her fate
     Staring at her eager executioners
     With her wide beautiful eyes
Blood gushing from her scalp
from the brick she had stopped with her head
Blood running from her thighs
from the knife she had intercepted with her legs
     She screamed
     a silent scream
Ululating around her with gleeful delight
Dancing around her in joyful exuberance
Toyi-toying around her with ecstatic frenzy
They hacked her with pangas
Clobbered her with knobkieries


© farouk asvat

composed: 09.11.1995 [Kimberley, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

A Beautiful Necklace was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p115, 2006);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (27.03.2012);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p114, 2014).
______________________________________________________________
[§] Books by Farouk Asvat:

Sadness In The House Of Love (novel)
The Gathering Of The Storm (novel)
I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry)
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (poetry)
A Celebration Of Flames (poetry)
The Time Of Our Lives (poetry)
Bra Frooks … (poetry)*
The Paanies Are Coming (short stories)*
In The House Of Love (novel)*
Weapons Of Words (comparative literature & literary criticism)

¨ all my books are now available on amazon: in paperback & kindle
______________________________________________________________
© farouk asvat.  All rights reserved.

Farouk Asvat asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or transmitted in any form or any means whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, including recording, printing, photocopying, or via any computerised means or media, including the internet.  This publication shall also not be stored in a retrieval system.  And the writing shall not be sold, lent, hired, resold or circulated in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published,
without the prior permission of the author in writing.
Permission to publish or reproduce the writings in any format can be obtained from the author.
Reproduction of this work without permission, except for scholarly & nonprofit purposes,
is liable to a payment of 10, 000 ren men bi or US$ 1,500.

farouk asvat can be contacted at: farouk.asvat@gmail.com

[] please check out my blogs @:





books by farouk asvat: www.faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com

[] also link up on:






amazon kindle author @ www.amazon.com/author/faroukasvat

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

#love #literature #fiction #novel #poetry #southafrica #apartheid #books #classics
#weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#faroukasvat #the wind still sings sad songs #a beautiful necklace #necklacing

          www.amazon.com/author/faroukasvat 

20 March 2012

SAD AND QUIZZICAL

SAD AND QUIZZICAL  
© Farouk Asvat  

Your quizzical eyes,
Round, and sad like the world,
Will always bring me back
To caress with rose-petal lips
Those lips holding back mysteries;
Your face taut,
Even now,
As we come together

How sad
Your sadness must be
To leave the eternal walk around the fire
For promises of children
Dancing to a distant anthem

'There is someone who loves you'
Bluegums whisper to me
Watching the festival of sunset

But in the shadow of pines
In the dangling dew of dawn
I ask of so many things:
But the wind is silent
Smelling of rainstorm

And the waves on the lake
Keep coming and going.

How terrible and brief was your desire
How turgid and tense:
Sadness that drowned the sea in your eyes
Black waters still and distant and unfathomable


© farouk asvat

composed: 1985 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

Sad And Quizzical was previously published in:

     A Celebration of Flames (Donker, p42, 1987);
     A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, California, p35, 1988);
     Droef Spottend: Dutch translation by Irene Scheltes (1988);
     A Celebration of Flames (piquant publications, p56, 2007);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (20.03.2012);
     A Celebration Of Flames (kindle, 2014);
     A Celebration Of Flames (amazon paperback, p56, 2014).
______________________________________________________________
[§] Books by Farouk Asvat:

Sadness In The House Of Love (novel)
The Gathering Of The Storm (novel)
I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry)
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (poetry)
A Celebration Of Flames (poetry)
The Time Of Our Lives (poetry)
Bra Frooks … (poetry)*
The Paanies Are Coming (short stories)*
In The House Of Love (novel)*
Weapons Of Words (comparative literature & literary criticism)

¨ all my books are now available on amazon: in paperback & kindle
______________________________________________________________
© farouk asvat.  All rights reserved.

Farouk Asvat asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or transmitted in any form or any means whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, including recording, printing, photocopying, or via any computerised means or media, including the internet.  This publication shall also not be stored in a retrieval system.  And the writing shall not be sold, lent, hired, resold or circulated in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published,
without the prior permission of the author in writing.
Permission to publish or reproduce the writings in any format can be obtained from the author.
Reproduction of this work without permission, except for scholarly & nonprofit purposes,
is liable to a payment of 10, 000 ren men bi or US$ 1,500.

farouk asvat can be contacted at: farouk.asvat@gmail.com

[] please check out my blogs @:





books by farouk asvat: www.faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com

[] also link up on:






amazon kindle author @ www.amazon.com/author/faroukasvat

_______________________________________________________  
DROEF SPOTTEND  

     Dutch translation by © Irene Scheltes

Je spottende ogen,
Rond, en droef als de wereld,
Zulen mij altyijd terugveroen
Om te kozen met rozenlippen
Deze lippen die mysteries verbergen
Je gezicht strak gespannen
Zelfs nu,
Nu we samen zijn

Hoe droef
Moet je droefenis wezen
Om de eeuwige gang rond het vuur te staken
Vanwege beloften van kinderen
Dansend op een lied van verre.

'Er is iemand die van je houdt'
Fluistert de eucalyptus me toe
Als ik kijk hoe de zon feestelijk ondergaat

Maar in de schaduw de pijnboom
In de drupp'lende dauw van de dageraad
Vrag ik me zoveel af:
De wind ligt stil
Geur van regenstorm

En de golven van het meer komen en gaan.

Hevig en kortstondig was je verlangen
Overspannen en gespannen:
Droefenis verdronk de zee in je ogen
Nog altijd zwarte wateren en verweg en niet te peilen

     Dutch translation by kind permission of © Irene Scheltes

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

#love #literature #fiction #novel #poetry #southafrica #apartheid #books #classics
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#a celebration of flames #sad and quizzical #sad #quizzical


13 March 2012

A CELEBRATION OF FLAMES

A CELEBRATION OF FLAMES  
© Farouk Asvat  

          Do not disturb
          The sanctity of my home
          When you throw a molotov
          Through the shattered pain:

All over the land

Children, put your mothers out
Raze their homes
In a celebration of flames
And acrid tyres smelling of life
Build a bonfire of ashes
Ululating with delight,
And then
Without name or face
Bury yourselves
If you still possess the skin of shame

And you,
Flaunting the tribal feathers of liberation
And you, assuming the crown
In purple robes of piety
Or golden robes of rhetoric,
Make glib statements
Counting score
Of dead and maimed
Amongst our own
On rosaries that flame with burning flesh

     What are we
     Reduced to?
     What insanity
     Now drives my people
     From the fires
     Of liberation
     To the corpses of doom
     Writhing
     In the dance
     Of a final
     Farewell.

          All around me I see ruin.
          The ruin of land
          The ruin of people

     Convoys of dusty hippos
     Patrol the blood-laden streets
     Of another jungle
     Shooting innocent blood:
     Children contorted in happy games
     Mothers shot in the moment of birth
     Virgins driven to a lonely veld
     Echoing with the madness of their lives

          And you, my brother,
          Do not stir in your rotten grave
          Lie awake and wonder
          How they deny your naked ghost
          Tied to a chain,
          For Azania is up in flames again
          And even your friends do not remember
          The anguish of its dreams

          And you, son of the soil,
          Do not ponder too long
          Let the gods keep you there
          In your heaven of so many sorrows,
          For so few
          Carry burning memories
          Of a feverish uprising
          That history books have forgotten

          And you, my comrade,
          Do not pace too many times
          For they do many things in your name
          Carry you on bright banners
          So you can roam your cage in agitation
          And watch a country burn
          To cinders of despair
          In the anthem of the revolution


© farouk asvat

composed: June 1985 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

A Celebration Of Flames was previously published in:

     A Celebration of Flames (donker, p67-69, 1987);
     Dokumente Texte und Tendenzen VIII
          (Evangelische Akademie, Germany, p163, 1987);
     Matatu: Towards Liberation:culture and resistance in south africa
           ed G Davis, M Manaka, J Jansen (Göttingen, Germany, # 3(4), p46, 1988);
     A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, United States, p57, 1988);
     Een Feest Van Flammen: Dutch translation by Irene Scheltes, (1989);
     Broken Strings: the politics of poetry in south africa
          ed S Finn, R Gray
          (Maskew Miller Longman, Cape Town, p130-132`, 1992);
     African Literature In The Eighties (Matatu 10),
          ed D Riemenschneider, F Schulze-Engler,
          (Rodopi, Amsterdam, Netherlands & Atlanta, 1993);
     A Celebration of Flames (piquant publications, p92-94, 2007);
     Alevlar Den Bir Kutlama: Turkish translation by İlyas Tunç,:
          Contemporary South African Poetry Anthology,
          Çağdaş Güney Afrïka Şïrï Antolojïsï
          (Bencekitap Publishing, Istanbul, p231, 2013);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (13.03.2012);
     A Celebration Of Flames (kindle, 2014);
     A Celebration Of Flames (amazon paperback, p90, 2014).
______________________________________________________________
[§] Books by Farouk Asvat:

Sadness In The House Of Love (novel)
The Gathering Of The Storm (novel)
I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry)
The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (poetry)
A Celebration Of Flames (poetry)
The Time Of Our Lives (poetry)
Bra Frooks … (poetry)*
The Paanies Are Coming (short stories)*
In The House Of Love (novel)*
Weapons Of Words (comparative literature & literary criticism)

¨ all my books are now available on amazon: in paperback & kindle
______________________________________________________________
© farouk asvat.  All rights reserved.

Farouk Asvat asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, or transmitted in any form or any means whatsoever, mechanical or electronic, including recording, printing, photocopying, or via any computerised means or media, including the internet.  This publication shall also not be stored in a retrieval system.  And the writing shall not be sold, lent, hired, resold or circulated in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published,
without the prior permission of the author in writing.
Permission to publish or reproduce the writings in any format can be obtained from the author.
Reproduction of this work without permission, except for scholarly & nonprofit purposes,
is liable to a payment of 10, 000 ren men bi or US$ 1,500.

farouk asvat can be contacted at: farouk.asvat@gmail.com

[] please check out my blogs @:





books by farouk asvat: www.faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com

[] also link up on:






amazon kindle author @ www.amazon.com/author/faroukasvat

_______________________________________________________
ALEVLER DEN BIR KUTLAMA  

     Turkish translation by © İlyas Tunç

          Dokunmayın
          Kutsallığına yurdumun
          Bir molotov fırlattığınızda
          Paramparça acılar arasından:

Ülkemin her yerinde

Çocuklar, kaldırın ortadan annelerinizi
Dümdüz edin evlerini onların
Alevlerden bir kutlamada,
Yaşamın yanmış lastik kokularında
Şenlik ateşleri yakın küllerden
Çığlıklar atarak sevinçle,
Sonra
Yüzsüz, isimsiz
Gömün kendinizi
Varsa hâlâ utanç deriniz.

Ve siz,
Özgürlüğün kabile tüylerini övünerek gösteren
Ve siz, dindarlığın mor cüppeleri
Ya da tumturaklı sözlerin altın urbaları içinde
Sarığını giyen,
Açıklamalar yapın yarım yamalak
Yanan gövdelerle yalazlanan tespihler üzerinde
Hesaplayarak
Kendi aramızdaki
Ölüleri ve yaralıları.

     Nasıl kırıldı
     Direncimiz?
     Hangi çılgınlık
     Sürüklüyor halkımı şimdi
     Özgürlüğün
     Alevlerinden
     Yazgının cesetlerine
     Acıdan kıvrana kıvrana
     Son bir kez
     Vedalaşma
     Dansında.

          Yıkıntılar görüyorum dört bir yanımda
          Ülkemin yıkıntıları
          Yıkıntıları halkın

     Çamurlu su aygırı konvoyları
     Yürüyor kan bulaşmış sokaklarında
     Başka bir keşmekeşin
     Kurşunlayarak masum soyları:
     Neşeli oyunlarında sakatlanmış çocuklar
     Doğum anlarında vurulmuş anneler
     Yaşamlarının çılgınlığıyla yankılanan
     Issız bir vadiye sürüklenmiş bakire kızlar

          Ve siz, kardeşim,
          Kıpırdamayın çürümüş mezarınızda
          Yatın tetikte ve bakın
          Nasıl inkar ediyorlar zincire bağlanmış
          Çıplak ruhunu senin.
          Çünkü Azanya alevler içinde yükseliyor yeniden
          Hatta hatırlamıyorlar arkadaşların
          Onun sıtmalı düşlerini

          Ve siz, toprağın oğlu
          Kafa yormayın uzun süre
          Bırakın tanrılar korusun sizi orada
          Nice acılardan oluşan cennetinizde.
          Çünkü, çok az kişi hatırlar
          Tarih kitaplarının unuttuğu
          Hummalı bir isyanın
          Yakıcı anılarını.

          Ve siz, yoldaşım benim,
          Volta atmayın durmadan
          Çünkü, senin adına onlar yaparlar bir çok şeyi
          Taşırlar parlak afişler üzerinde seni
          Öyleyse, dolaşabilirsin kafesinde can çekişerek,
          İzleyebilirsin bir ülkenin
          Umutsuzluk cürüfuna dönüşünü
          Devrim marşıyla.

     Turkish translation by kind permission of  © İlyas Tunç

_______________________________________________________
EEN FEEST VAN VLAMMEN  

     Dutch translation © Irene Scheltes  

     Schend niet
     De heiligheid van mijn huis
     Als je een molotov gooit
     Door de verbrijzelde pijn;

In het hele land

Kinderen, zet je moeders buiten de deur
Breek hun huizen af
In een feest van vlammen
En autobanden met de scherpe stank van leven
Leg een vreugdevuur aan van as
Jammerend van verrukking,
En dan
Zonder naam of gezicht
Begraaf jezelf,
Als schaamte je huid nog kan doordringen

En jij,
Pronkend met de stamveren der vrijheid
En jij, die de kroon aanvaardt,
In purperen gewaden van vroomheid
Of gouden gewaden van retoriek,
Leg gladde verklaringen af
Maak de balans op
Van doden en verminkten
Onder de onzen
In rozenperken die vlammen van brandend vlees

     Waar zijn we toe
     Verlaagd?
     Welke waanzin
     Drijft mijn volk nu
     Van de vuren
     Der bevrijding
     Naar de dodelijke ondergang
     Kronkelend
     In de dans
     Van een definitief
     Afscheid.

          Overal rondom mij zie ik verwoesting.
          De verwoesting van land
          De verwoesting van mensen

Stoffige konvooien patrouilleren
In de bloedbesmeurde straten
Van een nieuwe jungle
Schietend op onschuldig bloed;
Kinderen verwrongen in vrolijk spel
Moeders neergeschoten bij het baren
Maagden naar een eenzame vlakte gedreven
Waar de waanzin van hun levens weerklinkt

          En jij, mijn broeder,
          Verroer je niet in je verrotte graf
          Blijf wakker en vraag je af
          Hoe ze je naakte schim negeren
          Gebonden aan een keten
          Want Azania staat weer in lichterlaaie
          En zelfs je vrienden herinneren zich niet
          De zielenpijn van haar dromen

          En jij, zoon van de bodem,
          Pieker niet te lang
          Laat de goden je daar behoeden
          In de hemel van zoveel smarten
          Want zo weinig mensen
          Dragen de toorts der herinnering
          Aan een koortsachtige opstand
          In geschiedenisboeken vergeten

          En jij, mijn kameraad,
          Loop niet te veel op en neer
          Want ze doen vele dingen in jouw naam
          Dragen je mee op blinkende banieren
          Zodat jij gejaagd kunt dwalen in je kooi
          En toezien hoe een land in vlammen opgaat
          Tot sintels van wanhoop
          In het lied van de revolutie

          Dutch translation by kind permission of  © Irene Scheltes

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

#love #literature #fiction #novel #poetry #southafrica #apartheid #books #classics
#faroukasvat #weapons of words  #comparative literature #literary criticism
#a celebration of flames #a #celebration #of #flames