29 October 2013

SMOKE

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 @:





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

#love #literature #fiction #novel #poetry #southafrica #apartheid #books #classics
#faroukasvat #weapons of words #comparative literature #literary criticism
#the wind still sings sad songs #smoke 


No comments:

Post a Comment