Dear survivor (ghazal)

What was the whispered word that crazed you?

Whose was the promise-tipped arrow that grazed you?

Carpets of birdsong. Lifetime of silence.

When was the last time pain amazed you?

Now in the unnumbered hours, tell me

Why all the hotheaded prophets praised you.

Safe in our cave of blankets and cushions

Speak: which was the final kindness that dazed you?

Your dog. Your guitar. Bitter whiskey. Old stories.

Where are the wounded wolves who raised you?

Mute in your memory (swarm of words ghazal)

Mute in your memory I melt under a swarm of words

In my head I preach a love-twined platform of words

Shredded and sliced, the angry language that serves us

In shared arms I singsong the daily reform of words

I sling your body to the hot remembered fourwinds

Forgiveness a blessed icicle in your snowstorm of words

Nothing rhymes or reasons, no pattern pulses twice

Wheels grind sweet inside wheels, brainstorm of words

From your biglife to my smallroom I loft you alive

The touch of your stray hair is the oldest form of words

Free rebels atop the mountain we stand through the years

Cut to our stony selves in the long sandstorm of words

April on Earth - Hallelujah Ghazal

April on Earth

Hallelujah Ghazal

Crawling under benches, children pouting hallelujah

Up and down the roadside, cynics doubting hallelujah

All life long, the visitors keep pounding on the door

Weary, chirpy, fresh-peeled, jaded, touting hallelujah

Snow comes sudden, taunting, chill life, beauty draped on wounds

Bulbs in hiding, huddled, bang they're sprouting hallelujah

Sister on a mountain. Son deep into ancient books

Cousin gone. Self confused. All scouting hallelujah

Joy is here, betrayal there. The peddlers flap their loosetongues

Teaching hate. Two-facing life. Sell-outing hallelujah

The bus is huge, we sing and tease, turn off to follow whims

Chaos at the wheel - who cares? Re-routing hallelujah!

The bitter bliss, the nameless ache, the child that sings too free

The rebel anthem joins them, flouting, shouting hallelujah