HIT THE BALL

HIT THE BALL


Why avoid the test at all?
Why not respond to its call?

Better jump and break a bone,
Than be afraid of a fall.

Why escape the clutch of death?
It is sure to take its toll.

True love asks nought in return,
That’s how a girl loves her doll.

Khalish you will lose the game
If you do not hit the ball.


• Written in 7-7-7-7 format as a ghazal with end rhyme but without refrain. For a detailed note on ghazal, please see "WHAT IS A GHAZAL AND HOW TO WRITE IT?" .
* Khalish (an Urdu word meaning ache or pain) is the pen name of the poet. Such usage is common in a ghazal.
* Initially posted as item 715152, rated 4 by 5 viewers. It was deleted on 29 March 2005 and substituted by entry 337611 in the book MY GHAZALS IN ENGLISH, "MY GHAZALS IN ENGLISH" . Posted in the present form on 21 May 2011.


M C Gupta ‘Khalish’
5 July 2003