A Scorpion Sings Again Irene Emanuel
First published in 2015 by BK Press P O Box 47055. Greyville 4023 ISBN 978-1-928245-24-7 Š Irene Emanuel 2015
Prepared for publication: Ginny Porter Cover Painted by: Mike Ralfe
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Dedication Dedicated to my brother, Emanuel, who never laughed at me and said that one day I would be a poet. Dedicated to my brother, Alan, who never doubted that I could sing.
Acknowledgements Thanks to my wonderful family and friends who think that I am from another planet. Special thanks to Mike Ralfe for his amazing painting, which is on the front cover. Ginny Porter for walking next to me every step of the way.
Foreword Irene Emanuel’s original volume of poems, A Peace of Me reached great heights in its versatility and sincerity. The reader was transported into Irene’s beautiful dream-world of poetry while expressing herself in a large number of different types of poems. There is a freshness and beauty about her writing that reaches out to the reader who feels amazingly au fait with what Irene succeeds in expressing. Irene’s latest Scorpion Sings Again is more of the same in the familiar style that we the public have grown to love. I have every confidence she will make many more friends with her latest volume of original and expressive poetry. Patrick Coyne www.patrickcoyne.co.za Author of: • A Guide to South Africa’s Mountain Passes and Poorts • Share the Stage • Look back with Pride • The Flying Lady • Ten Years of Being Slightly Serious And regular column contributor to the Write Now magazine of the South African Writers’ Circle.
There once was a scorpion who sang in a genuine South African twang, so she wrote up some songs with many diphthongs and published the whole shebang.
Introduction: Why “A Scorpion Sings”? When this poetry collection was first published in 2006, I did not explain how the title came to be. Therefore, in 2015, on publication of A Scorpion Sings Again, I thought that I should discuss the importance of this title. I was born on the 7th November, which falls directly into the star-sign of Scorpio. Therefore, I am a Scorpion according to the sun signs. I have read how “complex, fascinating and magnetic these lovely ladies can be. Highly intelligent and very courageous, Scorpio is no shrinking violet. In fact, when this woman decides what she wants, she'll go after it regardless of the challenges in her way.” Source: http://horoscopes.lovetoknow.com/Scorpio_Women_Traits According to this website Grace Kelly and Katherine Hepburn were Scorpion women. Joni Mitchell, was born on my birthday and is a Canadian singer-songwriter and painter. So, I hold my head up high! Many years ago, I had an audition with a famous opera singer. This great man, felt that my destiny lay in America, under his patronage and supervision and my career would be as a Coloratura Soprano, singing at the Metropolitan Opera House. As I was still a high school student, I was not brave enough to move across the world and live with the opera star and his wife. To me, it was a daunting step that I was too young to handle. Later on, someone close to me convinced me that I had no talent and my singing voice was silenced until I re-examined my love of writing poetry. I have used the power of words ever since and in 2006, named my first anthology A Scorpion Sings as an act of defiance to those
who doubted my singing ability. This re-print of the original book, plus some new editions, is my voice repeating that A Scorpion Sings Again and will never be silenced. Yes, I am true to type then, no shrinking violet indeed!
Contents SECTION I: CONCERNS .................................... 1 Apocalypse Now ............................................. 2 Images of Anguish .......................................... 3 The Tsunami of 26th December, 2004 .............. 3 Ban the Bomb ................................................. 5 City Concerto .................................................. 6 Fear --- The Common Denominator ................ 8 Running Scared ............................................. 10 Do Fireworks ................................................. 11 Soweto Uprising............................................ 12 Then And Now .............................................. 13 It’s a Rape ..................................................... 14 What’s the Point? ......................................... 15 Criminal Raps................................................ 16 When Butterflies Die ..................................... 17 Coma Crisis ................................................... 18 The Darkness ................................................ 19 The Word ...................................................... 20 21st Century Stone Age................................. 21 Raceway ....................................................... 23 Jamie’s Voice ................................................ 24 Winds Of Change .......................................... 25
Apocalypse Now
Four horsemen rode out in a bunch to plan their next move over lunch; their eyes gleamed with hate as they planned the right date to send Asia a “tsunami punch�.
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Images of Anguish The Tsunami of 26th December, 2004 Remember December when sea became sky, when thousands of people were destined to die, when Nature let rip with hellions from hell and seawaves receded before the big swell. Remember December when Nature got mean, when fury unleashed a murderous stream; when islands were surfed by killer-stripwaves and people were blasted to watery graves. Remember December when maps were re-drawn, when places and people felt the sea’s scorn, when God was beseeched in numerous tongues to siphon the death away from their lungs. Remember December when Christmas closed down, when the world, as we know it, wore thorns for a crown, when “Tsunami” was king and cursed humankind and the rest of the world went out of its mind.
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