WHERE BLUE SKIES CRY IN THE AFTERNOON
© Jill Townsend
The sun scorches
Where blue skies cry
In the afternoon
The land breathes
In cross-currents of emotions
Collisions of oceans and winds
Reflect the minds and spirit
Of the people
Complexities and contrasts
Flourish and divide
Into pockets of resistance
Spiritually uplifting
Emotionally draining
Ebbing away into vast flatlands
Tall towers mirror
Dark secret places
There is corruption in power
As there is corruption in suffering
Breeding greed, betrayal and guilt.
Today is negated
By tomorrow.
Today is always more important
Than yesterday.
Uniforms and rhetoric
Disguise the soul
Masks fit every face
But never the eyes
- The eyes
always
tell
another
story -
So that every truth
Is also a lie
by kind permission of © Jill Townsend
_____________________________________________________________________________
letter/poem from Jill Townsend:
composed: 10.03.1986
[Carlton Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa under apartheid].
* I decided to include this
letter/poem from Jill Townsend to me, as it was so incisive and perceptive in
capturing the essence of South Africa and its people in the 1985-1987
period. I was quite determined that The Wind Still
Sings Sad Songs would be my last attempt to represent the events in
South Africa in poetry; and so I felt that Jill's
letter was an essential part of that portrayal of the country, its people, and
its turmoil. It should perhaps rather
have been part of my collection A Celebration Of Flames, capturing the events and
emotions of the mid 1980's.
Anyway, Jill's poem also reminded me of Basil Davidson's Report On Southern Africa (1952), which also gave
an insight into the people of South Africa, with a profundity that South
Africans themselves refuse to see, and are reluctant to appreciate. The book was obviously banned in South Africa throughout the apartheid
era, and Basil himself was considered persona
non grata after his visit, and was unfortunately never able to return to
the country to give the people of South Africa a valuable insight into
themselves, during its many years of turmoil.
§ farouk asvat
_____________________________________________________________________________
[] Acknowledgements:
Where
Blue Skies Cry In The Afternoon was previously published in:
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (piquant publications, p106, 2006);
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (kindle, 2014);
The Wind Still Sings Sad
Songs (amazon paperback,
p103, 2014).
<>
blog link: https://faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com
<>
direct post link: https://faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com/2014/05/where-blue-skies-cry-in-afternoon.html
<> blog
archive: 27 may 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)
● 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
quran lectures: https://faroukasvat-quran.blogspot.com
streetwise: https://faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com
biography: https://faroukasvat-stories.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
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
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
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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