A Tribute To Gene Doty, Aka Gene Perigrino Poem by red slider

introduction:

I remind myself now and again that 'Every death is an unfinished project'. Still, as long as we hold it in our memory, stir the waters now and again, the pebble of that life will continue to send ripples outward, to touch, sometimes change, new lives in distant places.

Gene Doty introduced me and many other American poets to the Ghazal form of poetry many years ago. His Ghazal Page published many of our works, gave us exercises in using the form and extended our range of saying what otherwise cannot be said.
Gene was a friend and correspondent for many years, whose kind words and very useful advice continue to guide my pen to this day. Gene died in 2015. His Ghazal Page was maintained by his son and some friends until 2019, when it faded as well. A search tells me the pond that carried the ripples of his unfinished work has grown still and silent once more; even the ghazal form is generally unknown to many younger poets, and its possibilities left unexplored. A good time, I think, to cast another pebble in the pond, to stir the waters a bit and see if those ripples can still reach distant shores.

The Final Ghazal
(a tribute to Gene Doty)

Guzzle up, Gino, last call. Drink up the dregs of that one last sher.
Where the matlaa ends, as it always does, its shadow-cast share.
When last we traveled this dark saloon where we left our sins
at the bottom of the glass, the radif repeats its steadfast shers.

Closing time, my friend, "Last call! Last call! ", the black-eyed gypsy
unveils her song, a bah'r stretched to the last gasp of the sher.

There she dances the table tops, whirling skirts lifted ever higher,
seducing those ought leave her alone, qaafiyaa blown to fast shers.

I walk the halls alone, my friend. Gone, gone! the lingering dare
Oh the takhallus, always yours, with many thou hast shared.

Always a thirsty desert that drinks from the well amid the waste,
where the sands of time come to seek their past in one last sher.

Ever the poet's red blood must flow, down to that thirsty mere.
I drink to you, my friend This maqtaa slides into that vast sher.

--Red Slider,2015

*For those unfamiliar with some of the terms used in this Ghazal the 'matlaa' is the first 'sher' or couplet of a Ghazal, which will also set the 'radif' or ending term, that will be repeated in each sher that follows. The word(s) that come just before the radif is a rhyming word called the 'quaafiya', and also appears in each sher. 'Bah'r' refers to the meter of the ghazal. The final sher is called the 'maqtaa'. It often contains some 'pen name' or reference to the poet called the 'takhallus' (e.g., 'red', 'slides') . The takhallus is a way of establishing the authorship of the Ghazal (a12th century version of what will later become the familiar copyrighting of a work.)

The form of the ghazal (pr. 'guzzle') has varied from century to century and culture to culture. Some poets insist on strict attention to form; others use it as a launching pad to explore new ideas in new ways. Whatever the case, if a work has the heart of the ghazal, it will sizzle like capers on a hot griddle.