SMOKE
© Farouk
Asvat
Smoke
swirls up in nostalgia:
Fragile
cinder collapsing in my palm
As I
light the first furtive cigarette;
The
faithful coalstove choking us
In the
sour haze of the old kitchen;
The
watchman rubbing his hands together
To keep
the brazier warm;
The
brilliant orange of a veldfire
Leaving
a crunchy scrub of remorse:
Somehow
there is an aura of sadness
Within
the smoke of childhood.
Now there is
The acrid smell of tyres burning
The singeing bubbles of flesh smouldering
The screaming rhythms of grotesque dancing
The bursting flowers of teargas blossoming
The swirling gloom of smoke rising
from
blazing shanties
The spectral haze of mothers hurrying
through
the smoggy dusk
The lightning flashes of zealous comrades burning
witches
in adobe huts
That is now the clear smoke of growing up
© farouk asvat
composed: 23.06.1986 [Alexandra,
Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid]
for
Lionel Abrahams in Alexandra Township
[] Acknowledgements:
Smoke was previously published in:
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (piquant publications, p31, 2006);
www.faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com
(29.10.2013);
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (kindle, 2014);
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (amazon paperback, p29,
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)
● 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
______________________________________________________________
© 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
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
the NOVEL Sadness In The House Of Love by Farouk Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
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#fiction #novel #poetry #southafrica #apartheid #books #classics
#faroukasvat
#weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind
still sings sad songs #smoke
