ghazal: "the full price"

The full price you exact is precise   though it takes a long time
truth will triumph by twirling the dice   though it takes a long time

the conditions for learning are everywhere   all is our school
we've been studying fire and ice   though it takes a long time

the belovèd is hidden   her veil is beauty's caprice
one could make the whole film with no splice   though it takes a long time

fine cuisine thrives on contrast   the sour's in need of the sweet
you could cook with mere sunlight and rice   though it takes a long time

if the yarn be a fiction   the dream it spins out yet enchants
worlds emerge and subside in a trice   though it takes a long time

if we're fighting   let's fight from the heart   love is dark as a sea
hold your fire till glimpsing white eyes   though it takes a long time

I don't know about oceans   but pearls come from somewhere perchance
pearl-like tears grow pelagic in price   though it takes a long time

what I glimpse of you   though a mere hint   brings my rash heart delight
I grow bold to unmask your disguise   though it takes a long time

I desired a story to lull me   and ease obscure pain
you obliged with a cosmic device   though it takes a long time

our surrender to you was ordained   from the very first dawn
each dusk moves a small turn of the vice   though it takes a long time

could it be you're the one I was waiting for?   life is absurd
there's a twist to the meshwork of sighs   though it takes a long time

every curving design's   a mark   of her smiling blinkers
we'll be blindsided by her white thighs   though it takes a long time

such autumnal thoughts!   curtains descend at the end of each act
spring's implied   floral answers arise   though it takes a long time

won't the candle proves useless   unless you've a pocketed match?
there's a singular curl when flame dies   though it takes a long time

the value of things peters out   what we cherish eludes us
our confusion encounters demise   though it takes a long time

I was born ululating   my cry is a sign of my life
others weep when this minstrelsy dies   though it takes a long time

tone the volume down   speak in a whisper   if meanings are real
those who listen   acknowledge truth's size   though it takes a long time

every spark you confided me   proved different from what I'd supposed!
such discursive truths spring from bald lies   though it takes a long time

every verse of my ghazal   each couplet I string   pierces veils
love's the burden song bears in reprise   though it takes a long time

our hellos are unending!   I greet you again and again
we'll endure the assault of goodbyes   though it takes a long time

in his poetry   Raphael dabbles   provoking deep thoughts
shallow critics admit it's half nice   though it takes a long time


[this is not yet the final version]