19 February 2013

THE JOURNEY OF A SLAVE

THE JOURNEY OF A SLAVE  
© Farouk Asvat  

Toiling for a tot
I am hopelessly entwined
To the creeping vineyards

But I have often dreamed
Of riding Ben Schoeman 3rd class
To the mother city
Whose fathers abandoned me
To squat outside the periphery
Of the master's conscience

But in the meantime
I can always ride Blue Train Express
On journeys that will always bring me back
To squeeze with chapped feet these succulent drops
To make the distinctive Paarl Perlé
So that I can drink the bitter sediment

And when there's a little money sometimes
I can always drink Ship
And be lulled by the gentle waves
Be tossed by the violent storms
Only to be returned to the rocks of reality
To spend my days sweating
My nights in another toil

But with the years
If there is no salvation
Like the lord Jesus Kristus promises
Every Sunday in the whitewashed church
And there's no journeying from this wasteland
And the wine is turned to water
In my seasoned gullet
I can always mix Rocket Fuel
Astronaut to hell
And rest in peace


© farouk asvat

composed: 1980 [Cape Town, South Africa under apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

The Journey Of A Slave was previously published in:

     The Time Of Our Lives (black thoughts publications, p34, 1982);
     Staffrider 2(3) (Ravan, Johannesburg, p31, Jul/Aug 1979);
     The Return of the Amasi Bird, ed T Couzens
          (Ravan, Johannesburg, p346, 1982);
     Ask Any Black Man (Ravan, Johannesburg, p`, 1982);
     Dokumente Texte und Tendenzen VIII Reader
          (Evangelische Akademie, Germany, p34, 1987);
     A Celebration of Flames (Heller Fund, UC Berkeley, California, USA, p12, 1988);
     Botsotso 12, (Botsotso, Johannesburg, p59, 2002);
     The Time Of Our Lives (piquant publications, p56, 2007);
     www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com (19.02.2013);
     The Time Of Our Lives (kindle, 2014);
     The Time Of Our Lives (amazon paperback, p56, 2014).

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the anthology A Celebration Of Flames by Farouk Asvat
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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 @:





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: paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

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#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the time of our lives #the journey of a slave #journey #slave 

          www.amazon.com/author/faroukasvat 

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