streetwise: TO BURY THE DEAD

TO BURY THE DEAD
© Farouk Asvat

To bury the dead

You have to dig deep
Into your pockets

These days

It takes very little
To bury the dead

You only need: 1 marquee

                                    1 catering firm
                                    20 tables
                                    200 chairs
                                    1 ox
                                    and lots of champagne
Plus:                            2 municipal buses
                                    10 socialites
                                    20 official mourners
                                    250 official guests
Plus:                           Some handsome mortuary fees
                                    Some preparation of the body
                                    to make a beautiful corpse
                                    The hiring of a long hearse
                                    And an expensive coffin
                                    made of genuine oak
                                    with brass handles
And:                            1 ordinary grave

To bury the dead.

So that at the bargain price

Of a few thousand rands
You can have a wonderful burial
For your dearly departed
At the most fashionable funeral parlour in town
Whose inviting motto is:
"Call Us Before You Go."

Yes, it takes very little

to bury yourself these days

Because

            "You can have a memorable funeral
              For your loved one -
              For just R20 a month"

Paying for the rest of your life

composed 1995 [Johannesburg, South Africa under new apartheid]

[] Acknowledgements:

To Bury The Dead was previously published in:

The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (piquant publications, p76, 2006).

____________________________________________________________

[] WIETIE WHAT-WHAT

Bra Frooks is ...

                                [] nes 'n skollie
                                [] 'n egte skollie
                                [] 'n tsotsi
                                [] a real scamp
                                [] streetwise
                                [] the jokerman

Bra Frooks ...

                                [] praat soos 'n skollie
                                [] wietie soos 'n joster
                                [] wietie what-what
                                [] tunes like a durbanite
                                [] speaks like an englishman

Farouk Asvat asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

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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 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 @:

farouk asvat : poems

faroukasvat-poems.blogspot.com/

WEAPONS OF WORDS

faroukasvat-viewpoint.blogspot.com/

streetwise

faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com/

piquant publications: BOOKS by FAROUK ASVAT

piquantpublications.blogspot.com/

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