High everyone I wanted to congratulate you on how well you rose to the challenge of learning the Ghazal! I do hope you will join me now in writing some
Contemporary GHAZALS [which by the way are much easier!!] now that you [I hope] have caught the BUG! LOL Here's the definition!
The contemporary Ghazal doesn't need to RHYME! [It can though!] The two most important features are
LONG LINED COUPLETS [many of you in the contest had lines typically too short for a ghazal
but it was more important to use the repeated phrase & monorhyme]
They are just using the word couplet to mean the THOUGHT is laid on the page in 2 line grouping!]MYSTICAL TOPICSlipping AwayEric Folsom
Whatever lies frozen in the ice, a mitten or a Buick,
suspended as though floating upside down in the sky.
The fiddle music was over, so the priest went home
and saw the ghost of his father sitting on the bed.
Late in the season when the ice gets soft,
some drunk tries to cross at night and disappears.
Most people worry about saying the wrong thing,
think too long about the darkness beneath their feet.
Wheels lock automatically
when passenger doors are open.
She gave her daughter the red sweater and a key
to the safety deposit box down at the bank.
Something that shouldn't have been there;
a car in the same spot for days, gathering tickets.
Okies this guy even broke the LONG line rule! Ah Contemporary lack of respect for any rules!!! HAAAAAAha! See how he is giving you an INTHE MOMENT EXPERIENCE SIMILIAR TO A HAIKU?? yes! but THE ghazal ENCOURAGES SUBJECTIVITY [your imagination, fantasy, fancy!] See how he's BOBBING & WEAVING back & forth between reality & IMAGINATION!
How cool is that!!!
Here's a fun exercise with will give you a great poem!
Try writing what's going on outside of your body RIGHT NOW in 1 couplet then in the next What's going on in your HEAD!
Ghazal #1by Gene Doty
The belt of joined metal plates clanks
when I take her hips and pull her close.
I make my mouth the size of her nipple;
the Country's flag pops in the wind.
An alphabet of touches
--press the letter O to your lips.
I hear her voice upstairs,
her radio left on all day long.
Sharp consonants of the doorknocker,
the dog woofs in counterpoint.
The body too will cease to be,
become minor fragments, ashes and gas.
WELL IF THAT LAST ONE DIDN'T LIGHT A FIRE UNDER YOU I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL
Whatcha THINK?? Huh? Huh?