dVerse Ghazal

I.
IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT STIR A STORM

Like those things that make us smile.
Like life’s annoyances, too well we know.

You hold your finger, crimson bubbling,
perhaps, you say, I should slice the tomatoes.

I adore cabbage creamed and parsleyed,
you want brown gravy and new potatoes.

I prefer soft-edges and floppy pastels,
you plant boisterous thorny roses.

You read only mysteries and crime,
I read and write poetry and prose.

You say I suppose. I say I suppose.
We have that in common, I suppose.

Storms on the horizon, it weathers the sky.
The garden hums, and the air sings disquiet.

 
II.
A BIRD ON A BRANCH

One grey and wind-swayed morning
One blackbird spilled a lovely note.

Its blackness vivid as its song
Dark and inky, every note.

In an oak tree there it sat
writing lyrics for each note.

Leaves of curtains where it hid
Rang out love songs, so I note.

Its melody ruptured like a bolt
A cat, a cat, meowed a note.

That cat that hid amongst the leaves
That bird did not take one note.

To nature I am small as stones
Caution watches over me.

 

for dVerse a Contemporary Ghazal ©️ Misky 2019

18 responses to “dVerse Ghazal”

  1. First one, really like the list of things that make a garden hums. Despite the differences, there are common grounds as well. Second one, really like the note repetition and sounds like:

    Its melody ruptured like a bolt
    A cat, a cat, meowed a note.

    Misky, love the contemporary ghazals. I hope to write one too.

    Like

  2. Made me smile. There’s a lot of love in, and between, the lines.
    BTW, what mysteries and crime novels DOES Peder read?
    😉

    Like

    1. Look up Lee Child

      Like

  3. I like the way you pick out tiny details and turn them into a bigger picture, like a mosaic.

    Like

  4. The first: – (Little Things) This was a first. Of all the ghazals I’ve read (and to be fair they’re relatively few not in the hundreds), this is the only one that uses the couplet as a dialogue and you do it so effectively. I had to re-read it a few times to get the write emphasis, but all the way through I smiled with the realization of how you explored a true union, a marriage so much deeper than an infatuation or superficial romance but the meaning of a true alliance, the everyday details that define a love. This is superb.

    The second (Bird on a Branch) alludes to the long history of poetry and songs of blackbirds and crows and their cousins the elegant grackles. When one makes classical allusions one can gather that body of work’s meaning in totality and bring it into the poem. As I consider Ted Hughes and Mary Oliver and the many other poems that reference them, it makes this poem richer, multi-textured, and deeper to explicate. The bird songs are ever changing and yet with care, one can know what they’re saying – their love songs, their warning calls, their food alerts, all can be cataloged. Your brief poem and its music captures this in depth.

    Kudos on both!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you! Thank you! 😁

      Like

  5. I really love them both… the first one with those differences and contrasts… including the humor is wonderful… and the second with the blackbirds and the end to the cat … splendid.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Glad you enjoyed reading it.

      Like

  6. The most wonderful thing about both these verses is that they seem so effortless and playful in their form as well as their tone — the musicality is especially piquant in the second one.
    Wonderful writing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you very much for reading them. 😁

      Like

  7. clearly I was thinking about writing, but no excuse to use the wrong form above…should be “right emphasis”. My apologies.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. These are both wonderful Misky, well written!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I’ve just written my first Ghazal so know nothing about the form but do know that I really enjoyed your, thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Interesting poems, the second very lovely.

    Like

  11. These are wonderful, Misk. I favor the second.

    Like

  12. I too really like the dialogue couplets.
    And birds, of course. But the last couplet there is my favorite. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I also liked the inversion of the last line of the second Ghazal. Both are excellent but I, from sheer contrariness, like the contemporary one the best!

    Like

Leave a reply to Gay Reiser Cannon Cancel reply