Alankar(Decor) -268 Poem by Indira Renganathan

A Long Wait (Ghazal)
Ghazal--The form is thought to have developed from Persian street challenges and is a shorter,
single themed descendant of the Qasida. The predominant theme is love both earthly and spiritual
which the ghazal explores with imagination and fantasy.
The poetry is often defined by the theme of constant longing.

It is a stanzaic form written in couplets or shers,
each couplet is an independent poem linked to the adjacent couplets by meter,
rhyme and refrain. The poem as a whole is a collection of thoughts or images
and does not tell a story therefore it should not follow a natural progression..
It is more like a patchwork quilt, each patch is related to the other patches
but not in any particular or logical sequence.

There appears to be a loosening of the traditional format in the transition from the Urdu or Hindi to English.
The traditional ghazal has an intricate rhyme and refrain pattern which has been dumbed down
a bit in some more modern English ghazals. The looser version uses a simple rhyme scheme aa xa xa without reference
to refrain and some are without rhyme or refrain altogether. It is certainly up to the poet how intricate or
simple they care to make it. As with all form, the poem comes first, then the structure.

The elements of the Ghazal are
metric at the discretion of the poet. All lines should be of equal length and meter.
made up of 5 to 15 shers. The sher is the couplet of the traditional ghazal
when it includes a
'main rhyme' (qaafiyaa) established somewhere in the 2nd half of L1 of the opening sher
(matla) ,
and is repeated in L2 immediately before the refrain (radif) , which is the last word or
phrase of L2.
This main rhyme and refrain is repeated in L2 of ALL subsequent shers in the ghazal.
written with the opening sher (matla) establishing the tone, main rhyme (qaafiyaa) and
refrain (radif) .
a = main rhyme; R = refrain
xxxxxx a xx R
xxxxxx a xx R
Subsequent shers (maqta) carry the main rhyme and refrain in the 2nd line.
L1 of all subsequent shers
has no restrictions other than to be the same length or meter as L2.
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxa xx R

xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxaxx R
The last sher (maqta) often includes the (takhallis) name or pen name of the poet.
---------------
A Long Wait
I asked moon to come near, but she did not
I asked you my moon, but you too did not

May be moon's far away so she can't come
But you are here on earth, why you did not

May be moon wanes to nothing so she can't
Are you too so to hide, so you did not

May be moon thought it's my dream and not real
But knowing my heart, still why you did not

Oh my moon, don't you know my love is true
I know that you know.Still why you did not

Come my moon, no life without you for me
Come for sure, unlike so far you did not

You are my Jasmine fragrant far away
Kissing me your scent, though come you did not

Sending me your kisses through the sweet breeze
A secret sweet touch, though come you did not

You send your love by this method I know
A secret sweet touch, though come you did not

Why hiding this much this long oh, darling
Come out quickly, though so far you did not

I send the breeze back with my perfumed heart
Come with it fast, though so far you did not

It's just the clouds hiding the above moon
Come, all'll be right though so far you did not

Spring always awaits us to show pleasance
Come, all'll be right though so far you did not

My Jasmine, you're the moon of the night, yet
Scenting the morn, come, though long you did not

A long wait you've made me wait to this day
Is it fair? come, though long come you did not

My this request, let the breeze take to you
The last asking....come.., though long you did not

This last time even, if you fail, my love
Just come no more, though long come you did not