31 December 2013

ROOMS: from fordsburg to joubert park

ROOMS:
     from fordsburg to joubert park  
© Farouk Asvat  


Kacholie Mansions, Fordsburg (1983-1985)  

The blue room invokes quietude and strength.
Azaleas wither among the barbed comments
Thorns eat into my crucified flesh

In the cruelest war of our times
Violent poems invade my sleep
Ghosts dance around the bed
Ululating with delight
Around the flaming pyres
Of my living nightmares
Preparing to die again
For another song of freedom

Words remain censured
Piled away like blankets for the summer

     Painfully I unfold
     Scab upon crusty scab
     From my bleeding heart

     Winter's beauty and assault
     Is with me again

          A wounded dove
          Rising from a dusty roof
          Ready to fly again


Century Plaza, Joubert Park (1985-1987)  

Picadors and Penguins flutter
With the lives within their lives
Resting upon white melamine shelves
Where my lover smiles sadly at me;
Fikile's brain oozes
Through a fractured skull
Confined to a cell
In the frame of his painting,
A broken brick wall
His only hope of escape;
Peace-in-the-home flourishes
In broken sunbeams
In dancing chiaroscuros
Of coloured shadows;
I listen to rock 'n' roll in stereo
Waiting for the knock on the door,
Always waiting for the knock on the door:
     For the mournful smile of my girlfriend
     For the deadly embrace of the security police
     For the neat package from a comrade
     Exploding in my face


© farouk asvat

composed: [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

Kacholie Mansions, Fordsburg (1983-1985): composed: 16.05.1985
Century Plaza, Joubert Park (1985-1987): composed: 05.10.1985

[] Acknowledgements:

Rooms: from fordsburg to joubert park was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p70, 2006);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (31.12.2013);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p68, 2014).

     * 100th blog on this site *
______________________________________________________________
[§] 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
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#kacholie #mansions #century #plaza
#the wind still sings sad songs #rooms #from #fordsburg #to #joubert #park 


24 December 2013

THE WHORE DANCES

THE WHORE DANCES  
© Farouk Asvat  

In the cold misty night
The whore dances
To the brazier flames
Of her alcoholic mind
     While I wrestle
     With my dreams:
     A reality of nightmares


© farouk asvat

composed: 25.08.1981 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

The Whore Dances was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p69, 2006);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (24.12.2013);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p69, 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
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind still sings sad songs #the #whore #dances 


17 December 2013

HOMEBREW SERVICE

HOMEBREW SERVICE  
© Farouk Asvat  

The homebrew service
Is brisk and frisky:
Workers hurrying to the station
On the cold misty evening
Stop to chat awhile
Throw furtive glances
Upon the moonlit
          streetlit
                    shadows
               dancing upon the tarred avenue
The corners of their minds
Looking out for the men in blue
As they exchange hard-earned cash
For a homebrewed carton of respite
Gulping a quick drink
Before they hurry on
To their bleak townships
On the other side of the city.

Then it is quiet.


Later,
After the bioscope crowds
Have left in their cosy little groups,
The rotund homebrew mamma
Welcomes her next round of customers
To lighten her ten-litre drums of concoction:
The watchman in his stinking overcoat
Wielding his knobkierie and tribal scars
Reminiscing in a desultory manner
Upon the lost glory of a distant past
About his wife and children so far away
In the valley of a thousand hills.


Later, much later,
The queens of the night
Emerge from their furtive hovels
To share their familiar camaraderie
With the lost souls of the city
To drink another carton of forgetfulness
Together in their loneliness


© farouk asvat

composed: 1976 [Central Rd, Fordsburg, Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

Homebrew Service [Tshwala Service] was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p67, 2006); #
     www.faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com (?.2012); * #
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (17.12.2013); * #
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014); #
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p65, 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
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind still sings sad songs #homebrew service #tshwala service 


10 December 2013

FORDSBURG: from a corner

FORDSBURG: 
     from a corner 
© Farouk Asvat  

We, the Guys at Jupiters,
On the corner of Mint and Bree,
Dream about dating saucy film stars
Driving posh cars
And playing soccer like magic;
 - But the Groucho Marx son of a businessman
   Fully dressed in paintbrush moustache and rimmed glasses
   "Believe you me"
   Comes to expound on the virtues of Islamic socialism -
While we go on chowing
The famous fish an' chips
- hot and halaal, with masala,
  from the famous Solly's Corner -
Unable to limit ourselves to a Gandhi diet
- You should know that

Here we know the Sheriff and his Junior sidekick
Who know all the cops by name,
So some try smoking a joint behind the classrooms
Even though they wouldn't be found dead
With a cigarette in their cupped hands
By their orthodox fathers coming from the shops

Chiqo, Gaff, Faqir and Bra Frooks are the regulars
Playing "There’s one of two possibilities” -
Expounding on the fate of a piece of paper
Sending it on a fantastic journey
From scribbled schoolbook to discarded cigarette butt
From classy serviette to embossed toilet paper in heaven
After the movies at the Lyric Bioscope on Friday Night
There's always toasted steak-and-cheese from Kentucky
Before we go dancing the night away at the Matador

On Saturday Night we wear Arnold Palmer cardigans,
Arrow shirts, and spit-shining Jarmans
- For we wouldn't be seen dead in a Gandhi suit -
To go slow-dancing at the Chezgay
With Fataar and The Flames
Perennially singing "For Your Precious Love"
Before we take the girls from Bosmont home
After the inevitable smooching at the Zoo Lake

On Sunday Mornings
We’re all dressed up in Levis jeans, BVDs and Tigers,
For the match at the famous Fietas Grounds
With drunken Scoba and her motley crew
Enthusiastically cheering along with the excited crowd
     Up the Callies!
     Up the Dynamos!
For in soccer we never play a Bhamjee shot
Always making the perfect pass


© farouk asvat

composed: 1990 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

Fordsburg: from a corner was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p60, 2006);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (10.12.2013);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p58, 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
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind still sings sad songs #fordsburg #from #a #corner


03 December 2013

THE (SILENT) NOISE OF SUMMER

THE (SILENT) NOISE OF SUMMER 
© Farouk Asvat  

Summer has a different sound now
          Of crickets that aren't there
          Of breezes that do not blow.

     Just the memory of water
                                              dripping


© farouk asvat

composed: 27.08.1990 [Alexandra, Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

     for Lionel Abrahams in Alexandra Township

[] Acknowledgements:

The (Silent) Noise Of Summer was previously published in:

     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p36, 2006);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (03.12.2013);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (kindle, 2014);
     The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (amazon paperback, p34, 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
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind still sings sad songs #the #silent #noise #of #summer