MY CITY - ASHES TO ASHES

                                  photograph copyright anabela lourenco

   My city; the one l grew up in, the one l went to ballet in as a child, the one

   whose library was a quiet haven for a bookworm, the one where l tasted my

   first espresso, the one l studied fashion in, the one that smelled of bus brakes,

   the one that had ancient   gobs of bubblegum stuck on the pavements, the one

   that we dressed up to go  shopping   in, the one we looked down on from the

   tallest building in Africa, the one whose grand   cinemas* were a matinée treat

   or an evening out, the one with fancy hotels where rich   Northern suburbanites

   filched accoutrements from expense-account restaurants, the one we stood

   halfway into the road to get some Winter sun while waiting for a bus, the one

   of the glittering lights seen from afar...........that city, my Jozi, is burning down,

   bit by torturous bit.                                                                                   

   * fire at His Majesty's Building at the office block that topped a once grand
     cinema