Thursday, December 31, 2020

ghazal for JANET FINE

Too soon for trips!   don't leave   this festive party
the moon's eclipse would grieve   this festive party

we met along a road   toward a rare concert
the tablas' taps retrieve   this festive party

you twirled in kathak   as   a whippersnapper
must Rudra's steps re-weave   this festive party?

you found a manuscript   on pleasing women
God's microfische conceived   this festive party

the dusk of palaces   caught your affection
you threw Raj Pipla's eve   this festive party

you sliced my heart   critiquing   my first movie
don't seal your lips!   nor leave   this festive party

I still have tales to tell!   who'll understand me?
don't doubt my quips   believe   this festive party

I won't be brief!   I'll flourish   my bandana!
I've got tricks up my sleeve   this festive party

the kiss of death   they say   is liberating
reluctant lips receive   this festive party

the smile of Tukaram   lives in the painting
newspaper clips   frame Jiv   this festive party

does Bollywood recall   one who first named her?
the skinnydips are brief   this festive party

Mumbai Cairo New York   pearls for your piercing
low-budget trips don't peeve   this festive party

Ellen sends love from yon   out at East Hampton
there's contretemps with Steve   this festive party

too swiftly time's page flits!   we were still reading!
the boat tips   and upheaves this festive party

the ghazal's wit   wraps love   in lamentation
a form that fits the sleeve   this festive party

a million notes   the soul jots   on its journey
we've still   chits to retrieve   this festive party

in Haridwar   there's aarti   morn & evening
trays wave   as Shiv bereaves   this festive party

from Raphael accept   gratitude's bandish
his note   slips through the sieve   this festive party

3 comments:

Indran Amirthanayagam said...

Nice to see you again here with poems. Indran

http://indranamirthanayagam.blogspot.com

Ritwik Banerjee said...

What beauty in your simple rhythm! This poem breathes my country in every single word, touching me with such grace and such melancholy!

David Raphael Israel said...

NOTE:
This ghazal was originally blogged on NOVEMBER 24, 2007.
Just now (December 30, 2020) re-reading it, I noticed one typo.
Wanting to correct it, I accidentally "reverted to draft" (withdrawing its original "publication") then "published" it afresh. So it got pulled from 2007 and placed in 2020.
C'est la vie.
I'm glad I (re)discovered it anyway, as I feel that it's among my best ghazals.
It was occasioned by real grief at my friend's sudden departure from this world -- and thus was no mere formal exercise. Yet it employs formal literary constraints creatively (IMHO).

Namaskar.