Hello, all!

Today, I have two special poems from my writing class today, in ghazal form.

A ghazal (pronounced guzzle but not spelled like that) is a form of poetry, originating in Arabic culture. Most of the ancient ones focused on the subjects of love, loss, and spirituality. It has some particular rules, including having couplets with one repeating word at the end of every couplet, the lines having similar meter and length, and including a name check at the end!

This is my first time writing in form–if you haven’t noticed, I tend to enjoy free verse, dynamic poetry. But, I took a shot at this (in part because I was required to XD) and came with two poems I really enjoyed. Somehow, they ended up contrasting each other quite nicely–maybe because the subjects have been on my heart lately.

Without further ado, I present This Will Not Be Televised. and Ghazal to A Young Queen.

This Will Not Be Televised.

Something inside me screams to fight. 

Something outside me suffocates my fight. 

It’s a heartbeat pulsing, quick, quick, quick 

A force, warns me, I’ll die if I fight. 

Children are dying, beaten on concrete 

But silence is life. Pass by the fight. 

His eyes are begging, ripping at heartstrings 

Compliance is right. Be good, why fight? 

Because silence is death. Compliance is to 

Separate yourself, ignore the drive by fight. 

Silence is hearing those bullets, crack 

Crack, there goes a glorified martyr, the fight 

Will not be televised for the sake of silence. 

Stay a songbird. Desensitize the fight. 

The songbirds are caged. Rose thorns tore wings 

Now sit pretty. Silent. Turn blind eyes, to the fight. 

Ghazal to A Young Queen

Spread those wings and fly. It’s time. 

Be who you are meant to be. Thy time. 

Take your eyes off the dust. They belong in the sky. 

Take that crown off the ground. Revive time. 

Shake loose those chains. Don’t bend, nor break. 

Straighten your shoulders and breathe. Rise time. 

Hear the voices of the past, cheering you on. 

You are who they fought to be. Defy time. 

Be the light they need to see. A path and a future, 

Rise, spread your wings and fly. It’s high time.