MASSACRE AT
SHARPEVILLE
© Farouk Asvat
People of Sharpeville
Conquered
As
the soil of Sharpeville
Now
you have left your pass behind
Now
you have burnt the evil spirit
That
had bound you so long
Now
you are free
People
of Sharpeville
Now
you are bare
Of
the armour
That
had restricted your movements
Around
you stenguns and saracens shift uneasily
Suddenly
your air is filled with fire
As
it burns into your lungs
And
your gut shoots out
And
blood oozes from your eyes
But
your blood will not run dry
It
flows with the strength of underground movements
To
sadly nourish the tree of freedom
Mighty
as the baobab
So
you can rest in its shade
After
the long journey
So
you can eat of its fruit
Denied
you so long
People
of Sharpeville
©
farouk asvat
composed: 21.03.1973 [Johannesburg, South
Africa under apartheid]
13th commemoration of Sharpeville
& Heroes' Day.
[] Acknowledgements:
Massacre at Sharpeville was previously published in:
The Time Of Our Lives
(black thoughts publications, p16, 1982);
A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, USA, p10, 1988);
Awa-Finnaba II (West Berlin, Germany, p8, March 1988);
Perspectives 5: South Africa, ed Kurt Sondheim [text + recording]
(Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, p31, 1988);
Northern
Lights, Southern Star ? ed S Rubin (Nolwazi, Maskew Miller, p?, 2001);
The Time Of Our Lives
(piquant publications, p39, 2007);
The Time Of Our Lives (kindle, 2014);
The Time Of Our Lives (amazon paperback,
p39, 2014).
* On 21 march 1960, the South
African Police opened fire with Saracen armoured cars, Sten submachine-guns,
and other firearms, on an unarmed crowd, killing 69 children, women and men,
almost all of them shot in the back; while Sabre jets and Harvard trainers flew
low overhead. The protest, organized by
the Pan Africanist Congress, was part of a nationwide campaign against the
apartheid regime forcing Black people to carry identity documents at all times,
(called the "PASS") - at the risk of being beaten or
arrested.
___________________________________________________________________________
¨ AUDIO
● German Studio recording: (audio):
farouk asvat reciting:
• Possibilities For A Man Hunted By SBs
• The Death Of Steve Biko
• Massacre At Sharpeville
(Perspectives
5: South Africa, ed Kurt Sontheim, teacher's text + cassette recording # 8,
Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 1988).
___________________________________________________________________________
[§] 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 @:
weapons of words: https://faroukasvat-viewpoint.blogspot.com
piquante: https://faroukasvat-piquant.blogspot.com
streetwise: https://faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com
quran lectures: https://faroukasvat-quran.blogspot.com
biography: https://faroukasvat-bio.blogspot.com
books by farouk asvat: https://faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com
[] please join me on:
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faroukasvat
twitter: https://twitter.com/faroukasvat
___________________________________________________________________________
© 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
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Permission
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Reproduction
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is
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[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In
The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
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