30 September 2014

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS  
© Farouk Asvat  

     a letter to a friend
     wherever she may be

Anger swells
Like an explosion
In the chest

But it is too late
To change lives now

Love is a strange feeling
I left behind
In the disturbances of youth;
The tiger will not let me off
And the hyena cannot stop laughing
As the hippo rides the streets

Besides, we are too learned now
To go back to the source

After all these years
The emerald dazzle has softened
Your eyes have black sediments
And I have aged in my youth

Oh how the years wasted our lives
How our tongues could not speak
The language of our hearts
How we barricaded
Behind the myths of our upbringings


© farouk asvat

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

[] Acknowledgements:

After All These Years was previously published in:

     A Celebration Of Flames (donker, p35, 1987);
     English Academy Review 3
          (University of the Witwatersrand, p6, 1985);
     Dokumente Texte und Tendenzen VIII
          (Evangelische Akademie, Germany, 165, 1987);
     A Celebration of Flames
          (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, California, USA, p29, 1988);
     Culture In Another South Africa, ed W Camschreur, J Divendal
          (Olive Branch Press, New York, p198, 1989);
     Na Al Deze Jaren:
          Dutch translation by Irene Scheltes (1989);
     A Celebration Of Flames (piquant publications, p47, 2007);
     A Celebration of Flames (kindle, 2014);
     A Celebration of Flames (amazon book, p47, 2014).
___________________________________________________________________________

<> blog archive: 17 april 2012
<> blog archive: 30 september 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)
This Masquerade (short stories)
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
___________________________________________________________________________
[] please check out my blogs @:


[] please join me on:

___________________________________________________________________________
© 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
___________________________________________________________________________   
[] NA AL DEZE JAREN  

          Dutch translation by © Irene Scheltes

     een brief aan een vriendin
     waar zij ook mag zijn

Woede zwelt
Als een explosie
In de borst

Maar het is nu te laat
Om levens te veranderen.
Liefde is een vreemd gevoel
Wat ik achterliet
In de roerselen van mijn jeugd;
De tijger zal me niet laten gaan
En de hyena zan niet stoppen met lachen
Als het nijlpaard door de straten rijdt

Trouwens, we weten nu te veel
Om terug te gaan naar de bron

Na al deze jaren
Is do smaragden glans verflauwd,
In jouw ogen zit zwart bezinksel,
En ik ben in mijn jeugd verouderd:

O de jaren die ons leven verspilden
Onze tongen die niet konden spreken
In de taal van onze harten
Wat hebben we ons verschanst
Achter de mythen van onze opvoeding

     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 #after #all #these #years




23 September 2014

THE BARRIER

© Farouk Asvat  

We break bread in some quiet corner
Reliving the quieter moments of our lives.

     But the years have stilled the passion;
     The magic bond is broken.
     And you mark your distance
     Keeping your lively green eyes shuttered
     Refusing entry to the brooding soul.

          And thus distanced
          The schism widens

                    So much, I have wanted the essence:
                    To feel the fragrance of freshness
                    To dance to your lively eyes
                    To drink the troubled soul
                    Kiss the compassionate smile.
                    So much I have wanted.

               But too much have I fed on misery
               To live in whitewashed fairyland;
               Too much been part of the suffering
               For you to stand the strain of my existence
               For you to come to me
               To be my fantasy
               Be my only reality.

                    So far apart in so many ways
                    So much closer than closer friends
                    The evening air whispers
                    Almost with a sigh

               Outside, the wind stirs
               Black clouds gather with vengeance;
               The first drops have fallen;
               And in the stillness
               The night is restless


© farouk asvat

[] composed: 1976 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid];

[] Acknowledgements:

The Barrier was previously published in:

     The Time Of Our Lives (black thoughts publications, p51, 1982);
     Wietie 1 (Sable, Johannesburg, p8, 1980);
     Exiles Within (Writers' Forum, Cape Town, p2, 1985);
     A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, USA, p13, 1988);
     The Time Of Our Lives (piquant publications, p72, 2007);
     The Time Of Our Lives (kindle, 2014);
     The Time Of Our Lives (amazon paperback, p70, 2014).
___________________________________________________________________________

<> blog archive: 17 april 2012
<> blog archive: 23 september 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)
This Masquerade (short stories)
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
___________________________________________________________________________
[] please check out my blogs @:


[] please join me on:

___________________________________________________________________________
© 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

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
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 time of our lives #the barrier 




16 September 2014

AN ACT OF IMMORTALITY

AN ACT OF IMMORTALITY  
© Farouk Asvat 


What minds never can
What uniforms would never allow

     For you to reach me

          No! it is not I
          With blazing soul
          Loathing the smug and satanic
          Among these rotting ramparts
          Who has lost his humanity

               Though you still sit accusingly
               Smugly sipping
               The river that flows in my brother
               Blowing thoughtful smokerings
               To encircle my mind
               With cosy notions of humanity.

We know how to laugh
Know how to love
Even when we hate

     So tonight I shall love you
     On your side of town
     Slip out of your wet passion
     Slip through my arid land
     To the waiting border
     Or seek refuge in some zinc palace
     And choose my moment
     To greet their trains with thunder

     Between the kisses
     We ask why
     Hate comes so easy
     Why we overturn this earth
     To harvest dry sheaves of sanity

          So do not kill me now
          With your kind of love

          For someday soon
          We shall stand face to face
          Your kin and my kind
          With hate in our holsters
          Theirs greased by greed
          Ours by love
          Born of hatred
          For the blue-eyed sons of the gods
          The masters of evil


© farouk asvat

[] composed: 1976 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid].

The Immorality Act prohibited any close relationship between a white and a black person. 
It was introduced by the British colonialists,
and remained in force under the South African apartheid regime. 

[] Acknowledgements:

An Act Of Immortality was previously published in:

     The Time Of Our Lives (black thoughts publications, p49, 1982);
     Wietie 1 (Sable, Johannesburg, p8, 1980);
     The Time Of Our Lives (piquant publications, p70, 2007);
     The Time Of Our Lives (kindle, 2014);
     The Time Of Our Lives (amazon book, p70, 2014).
___________________________________________________________________________

<> blog archive: 17 april 2012
<> blog archive: 16 september 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)
This Masquerade (short stories)
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
___________________________________________________________________________
[] please check out my blogs @:


[] please join me on:

___________________________________________________________________________
© 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

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
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 #time #of #our #lives #an #act #of #immortality