THE MOON'S NO LONGER ABLE TO RISE:ghazal

THE MOON IS NO LONGER ABLE TO RISE: a ghazal



The moon is no longer able to rise;
The earth it watches in agony, cries.

She never finds her colour and design;
Each and every shoe in the mall she tries.

My friend has a problem with his tummy;
He just cannot get pants suiting his size.

When life is hard and no help is in sight
Man is prone to look upwards to the skies.

It’s better to live a life that’s simple,
So does Khalish in his old age surmise.



• This is not a very good ghazal by way of quality but fulfills the essential requirement, which I described as follows in my review to the writer—“The most important and essential attribute of a ghazal is the set of rhyming words, there being two such words in the first couplet and one in the second line of each succeeding couplets”. It was written by way of illustration and, for that reason, it uses the same opening line as used by the writer who submitted an entry in my ghazal contest—"SONNET AND GHAZAL CONTEST: editor's pick" . It may be noted that the opening line and couplet are the most important for a ghazal and set the mood and perspective for the remaining couplets. Using somebody else's first line surely puts a little constraint.

• Written in pentameter.


M C Gupta
29 December 2010