ghazal ("this moment")

Can scraps of yesterday   ever suffice this moment?
we've got to fight our way   to paradise this moment

your lore   when painted gray   patently hides your story
the shore where palmtrees sway   seems so precise this moment

when round & round she goes   who knows her destination?
the denouement at play   twirls with the dice this moment

each character on stage   blends a bouquet of nuance
by gumbo   this buffet's   spread to entice this moment

I wonder how it works!   that's why I play with language
the marvel of today   teems with device   this moment

a bevy of intrigues   joust in a tiny teahouse
the man in the beret   calls the police   this moment

you cast elegant lines!   when you reel in?   slim pickings
you spend your last cliche   merely concise   this moment

so much one cannot say   hovers in implication
painterly stacks of hay   subtly slice this moment

I'll meet you 'round the bend after the race   inshallah
I've seen the hotshots   hey! they don't play nice   this moment

the wise concur   her cheek plots out the curl of meaning
some girl beside the bay   so satisfies this moment

excuse my breeze through town   I'm on a lethal errand
the soughing of the ney   exacts a price   this moment

a hundred times we've failed   to comprehend bare sunlight
the road to Mandalay's   covered in ice   this moment

I thought I'd proffer garlands   in the rosy season
my pocket   guards a grain or two of rice   this moment

you're tardy   Raphael   but from the lobby   listen!
her single voice conveys   everything twice   this moment