farouk asvat : poems: THE CONTRAST STRIKES

THE CONTRAST STRIKES

on the 9th commemoration of 16 june 1976

Yesterday:

In the rustic surroundings

Of the peripheral clinic,

Where hunger lurks

In the window panes of bleak houses

In the eyes of mangy dogs

On the backs of lean women

Picking wild spinach

We sat in the kitchen

Sharing anecdotes and tea,

The nurses and I,

Watching them:

Springbok Tours

Bringing a happy contingent of tourists

Looking through the safety of binoculars

From the distance of a hill

At the army of hippos and elephants

At the excited mobs with molotovs

Fired by the fiery emotions

Of their adolescent adventures

Mixed up somewhere

With the desire for freedom,

Who would not let these foreigners enter

Into their cauldron of violence:

They had to return

With pink faces and terrified eyes

To the security of their frightened homes

To the neon streets of the tense city

Where healthy girls flaunt bleached thighs

In funereal fashions of pin-up skirts,

Astrut in oblivion.

Today:

The pompous landlords gather

All over the city

In their happy best:

A father's day picnic

To watch implosions

Of cooling towers:

The concern for monuments

And the passing of a lordship

Etched on their bland faces,

Sipping champagne

On mayoral balconies

The rearview mirror

Reveals all

As I drive to Regina Mundi

Through the back roads of the townships

To commemorate the death of thousands,

The unknown soldiers of The Struggle

The contrast strikes

Like a hint of congas

Invading a symphony of harps

As tension builds

And relieves

Like a swell of tides

Like clouds passing across a sunny day,

As brightly coloured hippos

Circle the church

In a taunting carousel

Of gleeful anticipation

As the people come out

Singing and dancing,

Only to gasp

With teargas-filled eyes

As strangers emerge

From their hovels

With tearing eyes

To offer wet cloths

Dipped in salt

To soothe our burning faces,

My aching lungs

Gasping for breath like a pigeon,

As we laugh at each other

At our common predicament

The dull thud of rubber bullets

The sharp crack of rifles

Smoke rising from teargas canisters,

A sneeze machine

Announcing another explosion of gas

Porcine faces laughing as they ride by

As we run

To safety again,

Every house a refuge now

Welcoming strangers

But soon

The children are out again

Taunting armoured casspirs

With little Black fists

Filled with pride

composed: 16 June 1985 [Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

The Contrast Strikes was previously published in:

A Celebration Of Flames (donker, p60, 1987);

The Indicator (Caxton, p26, 27-31.05.1986);

Saasm News 1(2) (SAASM, Boston, USA, p15, 1988);

A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, USA, p50, 1988);

Het Contrast is Treffend: Dutch translation by Irene Scheltes (1989);

A Celebration of Flames (piquant publications, p76, 2007);

www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (31.07.2012);

A Celebration Of Flames (kindle, 2014);

A Celebration Of Flames (amazon paperback, p74, 2014).

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