YRKB
02-10-2014, 09:08 PM
1961: As secretly anticipated,
Swift did it come
For this beauty - ill-fated...
The fall of Fao Sangh -
'London of the East':
Spire topped buildings;
Wide, well-tended streets.
Pontiac cars, Cinema halls;
Boulevards, Chapels,
Billboards and Malls.
Crescent eyed couples -
suits and cinched skirts;
Street vendors -
hot spiced snacks and iced drinks, no dearth.
Record shops sounding out Eastern-tinged swing;
Sweet Orient vocal with the snare and the zing.
The sizzles and plumes of the bright hued bazaars;
The cat-calls for rickshaws - new rounds in the bars.
Fao Sangh's pastel blue morning sunrise,
The common white birds on the street's powerlines -
The city's electric lit Peach fruit sunset...
On an era those who - truly - lived then won't forget..
'Wicked', 'hedonist' Fao Sangh of yore;
Playground of the wealthy -
heretic boon of the poor.
The name in the pamphlets and slogans passed round;
'Fao Sangh Must Be Taken, For Fao Sangh We're Bound!'
Administrative city; the Empire's heel
Colonial crown jewel -
Subject to Communist 'schpiel' -
Commonly dismissed as 'all that it is',
The jazz clubs stayed open - corks popped, gold fizz.
What was not to enjoy, what was there to fear?
'Mad even to try!' the Money-People would leer.
So on went went the fun,
until 1961 -
when it, secretly anticipated,
came for Fao Sangh - ill fated.
Copyright Yafeu-Khamisi Rodway-Brown
Swift did it come
For this beauty - ill-fated...
The fall of Fao Sangh -
'London of the East':
Spire topped buildings;
Wide, well-tended streets.
Pontiac cars, Cinema halls;
Boulevards, Chapels,
Billboards and Malls.
Crescent eyed couples -
suits and cinched skirts;
Street vendors -
hot spiced snacks and iced drinks, no dearth.
Record shops sounding out Eastern-tinged swing;
Sweet Orient vocal with the snare and the zing.
The sizzles and plumes of the bright hued bazaars;
The cat-calls for rickshaws - new rounds in the bars.
Fao Sangh's pastel blue morning sunrise,
The common white birds on the street's powerlines -
The city's electric lit Peach fruit sunset...
On an era those who - truly - lived then won't forget..
'Wicked', 'hedonist' Fao Sangh of yore;
Playground of the wealthy -
heretic boon of the poor.
The name in the pamphlets and slogans passed round;
'Fao Sangh Must Be Taken, For Fao Sangh We're Bound!'
Administrative city; the Empire's heel
Colonial crown jewel -
Subject to Communist 'schpiel' -
Commonly dismissed as 'all that it is',
The jazz clubs stayed open - corks popped, gold fizz.
What was not to enjoy, what was there to fear?
'Mad even to try!' the Money-People would leer.
So on went went the fun,
until 1961 -
when it, secretly anticipated,
came for Fao Sangh - ill fated.
Copyright Yafeu-Khamisi Rodway-Brown