AND THE NIGHT
© Farouk Asvat
More and more
There is less and less.
And the night
Keeps tossing and turning.
And the pain.
The persistent pain
That comes knocking on my chest
And the waves.
The persistent waves
That come to soothe my heart
And the wind.
The terrible wind
That comes full of
tragedy
And laughter
And the night
Keeps turning and
tossing
And clouds keep
unveiling the moon
Shy and tender as
ever
And the night keeps
singing
And the wind keeps
stirring
The leaves of the
night
And the sea keeps
rushing
The night to end
But do not go
Do not go my love
Stay
Stay while the night
is persistent
And men in uniforms
Keep coming and going
And men with bloody
knives
Keep going and coming
With cold eyes
And the night
Keeps turning and
tossing
And the wind keeps
roaring
And the sea keeps
rushing
And the pain keeps
coming
And you
Keep coming and going
Like the night
And the wind
And the sea
And the pain
So come my love
Walk with me
Walk awhile
For I have wandered
And who knows tomorrow:
Friends change like seasons
And the night keeps sighing
And graves keep hearing our voices
And my heart
Keeps beating and beating
To the rhythm of the night
© farouk asvat
composed: 1985 [Johannesburg, South Africa under
apartheid]
[] Acknowledgements:
And The Night was previously published in:
A Celebration Of Flames (donker, p30, 1987);
A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC
Berkeley, California, USA, p24, 1988);
Matatu 5(3) (Göttingen, Germany, p12, 1989);
Et la Nuit: + French translation by Jacques
Alvarez-Pereyre,
Genève-Afrique
xxvii (2) (Genève, Switzerland, p112, 1989); `
En De Nacht: 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, p129`, 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, p73, 2007);
www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com
(14.02.2012);
A Celebration Of Flames (kindle, 2014);
A Celebration Of Flames (amazon paperback, p71, 2014).
# composed: 1985 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid].
[]
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/faroukasvat
Farouk Asvat: interview & reading
poems recited by Farouk Asvat:
Possibilities
For A Man Hunted By SBs
And
The Night
(video
by kind permission of © d s Black, 1992)
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© 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 @:
weapons of words: www.faroukasvat-viewpoint.blogspot.com
piquante: www.faroukasvat-piquant.blogspot.com
books by farouk asvat: www.faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com
[] also link up on:
google+: www.google.com/+faroukasvat
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/farouk-asvat
facebook: www.facebook.com/faroukasvat
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/faroukasvat
twitter: www.twitter.com/faroukasvat
_______________________________________________________
ET LA NUIT
French
translation by © Jacques Alvarez-Pereyre
De plus en plus
Tout s’amenuise
Et la nuit
N’arrête pas de s’agiter.
Et la douleur. La douleur
tenace
Qui tape sur ma poitrine.
Et les vagues. Les vagues
tenaces
Qui viennent apaiser mon cœur
Et le vent. Le vent terrible
Qui s’en vient plein de
tragédies
Et de rires
Et la nuit
Qui se tourne et se retourne
sans cesse
Et les nuages qui dévoilent la
lune
Timide et tendre comme
toujours
Et la nuit qui continue à
chanter
Et le vent à remuer
Les feuilles de la nuit
Et la mer qui n’arrête pas de
pousser
La nuit vers son déclin
Mais ne t’en vas pas
Ne pars pas mon amour
Reste
Reste tant que la nuit durera
Que des hommes en safaris
Continueront leurs allers et
venues
Les hommes aux couteaux
couverts de sang
Qui vont et viennent
Les yeux froids.
Et la nuit
S’agite, s’agite encore
Le vent continue à gronder
La mer à déferler
La douleur à revenir
Et toi aussi
Tu continues tes allées et
venues
Comme la nuit
Et le vent
Et la mer
Et la douleur aussi
Aussi viens mon amie
Marche avec moi
Marche avec moi encore un peu
Car j’ai erré
Et qui sait de quoi demain
sera fait
Les amis changent comme les
saisons
Et la nuit continue à soupirer
Les tombes à entendre nos voix
Et mon cœur
N’arrête pas de battre, de
battre
Au rythme de la nuit.
French
translation by kind permission of © Jacques Alvarez-Pereyre
Published
in Geneve-Afrique (p112, Switzerland, xxvii /2, 1989).
_______________________________________________________
EN DE NACHT
Dutch translation by © Irene Scheltes
Meer en meer
Is er minder en minder.
En de nacht
Blijft woelen en draaien.
En de pijn. De hardnekkige pijn
Die aanklopt aan mijn
borst
En de golven. De hardnekkiige golven
Die mijn hart komen
sussen
En de wind. De verschhrikkelijke wind
Die komt vol tragedie
En vreugde
En de nacht
Blijft woelen en draaien
En wolken blijven de maan
ontsluieren
Verlegen en tender als immer
En de nachtblijft zingen
En de wind blijft de
bladeren
Van de zee beroeren
En de zee blijft de
nacht
Naar het einde stuwen
Maar ga niet weg
Ga niet weg mijn lief
Blijf
Blijf terwijl de nacht
volhardt
En mannen op safari
Blijven komen en gaan
En mannen met
bloederige messen
Blijven komen en gaan
Met koude ogen
En de nacht
Blijft woelen en
draaien
En de wind blijft
stormen
En de zee blijft
stuwen
En de pijn blijft
komen
En jij
Bleeft komen en gaan
Als de nacht
En de wind
En de zee
En de pijn
Kom dus mijn vriend
Loop een poosje
Loop met mij op
Want ik heb rondgedoold
En wie wee twat morgen brengt;
Vrienden wisselen als
seizoenen
En de nacht blijft zuchten
En graven blijven onze
stem horen
En mijn hart
Blijft slaan en slaan
Op het ritme van de
nacht
Dutch translation by kind permission of © Irene Scheltes
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: 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 #and the
night #night
