Kake-Jisku Ghazal Poem by Ben Gieske

Nature’s seams of seasons en plein air sur terre
orbit of harmony en plain air sur terre

Primavera, our eyes rise for your coming
long distance traveler en plein air sur terre

dallying with each stroll through the country side
genesis/life’s rebirth en plein air sur terre

Summer you burn away our sins of passion
fire dances hovering en plein air sur terre

vaporizing our dreaming/hazy vision
twisting, rising prayers en plein air sur terre

Autumn shedding all our leaves multicolored
final ashen harvest en plein air sur terre

Mother Earth’s savoring charms ceasing to flow
all the seasons sucked dry en plein air sur terre

sun laying its head on a cold snow pillow
hiding all the seasons en plein air sur terre

Winter/what better time/tell us your secrets
in white we will be clothed en plein air sur terre

petal offerings/revolving festivals
kaki-jiku hanging en plein sur terre

that we be cleansed in your blanket of meanings
purifying rituals en plein air sur terre

- Nov.5,2007


* This is a Ghazal. The following explanation is quoted from poets.org from the Academy of American Poets. “A Ghazal is composed of at least five couplets - - and typically no more than fifteen - - that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally autonomous.. Each line of the poem must be of the same length, though meter in not imposed in English. The first couplet introduces a scheme, made up of a rhyme followed by a refrain. Subsequent couplets pick up the same scheme in the second line only, repeating the refrain and rhyme in the second line with both lines of the first stanza. The final couplet usually includes the poet’s signature, referring to the author in the first or third person, and frequently including the poet’s own name or a derivation of its meaning.”

“Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani musicians. The form has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth-and fourteenth-century thanks to such Persian poets as Rumi and Hafiz. In the eighteenth-century, the ghazal was used by poets writing in Urdu, a mix of the medieval languages of Northern India, including Persian. Among these pots, Ghalib is the recognized master.

Pulished on-line by The Ghazal Page, March Issue - 2008
Go To: www.ghazalpage.net/2008/2008_march.html