Listening to Cicadas, I See Charlottesville (Ghazal)
Shedding one coat, you live in the red, apart
from the rest. Never together, forever apart.
In this sun-drenched field, the cracks drill deeper,
wider, dribbling soil and small lives, expanding, apart.
What falls truer than any words released from this man?
Once divided, never again to touch, always apart.
The electric shrill fluctuates pitch, in unison. Hundreds
of tymbals, shredding dusk, now together, then apart.
You narrow your eye to a slit, but still see the entire
spectrum. Wing clicks, stridulation. Whole yet apart.
Shearing syllables, I learn the language of half-truth.
What is my name? I reach for that fragment. It falls apart.
O at the Edges 
Great recording! Your vocals turn observation into drama – emphasis on certain syllables ups the impact – as do the pauses. (Just reading any poem I insert a few pauses, never a clue where the poet would’ve put them. Recordings are wonderful – keep doing these!!)
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Thanks, Jazz. To me pauses often reflect what falls naturally to the ear and/or breath. My line breaks are generally deliberate, and often indicate a pause, though sometimes they’re a response to line length. I’ve been writing in blocks lately, which is quite different from writing in couplets, as there are no stanzas, no blank spaces to indicate possible silences/pauses. And the type of poem also plays into this. Some blocks can be expansive, whereas others are compressed. I say this, but poetry is still a mystery to me, even after decades at it. 🙂
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Love your audio rendering. Gives a different dimension to the poem than reading alone. Ghazals are for listening.
I dabble in writing ghazals from time to time. Sometimes I write in my mother tongue and then translate to English.
Below is the shortlink to one of my recent attempt.
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Thanks very much. I believe that poetry should be heard. I enjoyed your ghazal. I don’t think you need to question mark in the title. It feels like a ghazal!
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
One of my friend is translating the poem to Urdu. She did the first couplet. Once she is done, I will request her to rectite and update my post.
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You’re very welcome!
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