Eighteen thousand times a day, I breathe in and burn
without ever questioning: “Why breathe in and burn?”
I’m too busy to ask silly questions—or to
take a moment to thank the sky. Breathe in and burn.
Some days I feel cellophane-wrapped, crazed to inhale
for gasping, as though two flows vie: breathing, burning.
Sometimes I cough up a ziggurat built by germs,
a fever of tribes who all try to breathe and burn.
Or maybe out the window, I see white herons
in their patience as they hunt, eat, fly, breathe and burn.
The substances that sustain us all kill us, too.
The factions of ours bodies fry, breathe in and burn.
The tasks we take in coming to vibrate are to
oxygenate and oxidize: breathe in and burn.
My name is Ari, and I’m addicted to air.
Let’s all share a collective sigh, breathe in and burn.
Fabulous, I am breathless and burning oxygen rusting my lungs with this! Ziggurats, kazow!
ReplyDeleteAre you willing to reveal the Ghazal structure and rules?
:)
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "cough up a ziggurat" made Lauren say "ew."
Ghazal is a blast! In a nutshell, the poet selects a "radif," or refrain (in my poem, "breathe in and burn"). Lines 1 and 2 both end with the radif, and after that, each couplet ("sher" in Arabic) ends with the radif, so the scheme is AA BA CA DA, and so on.
There is a rhyme before each repetition of the radif, too. In my poem it's the long I sound (I, why, sky, vie...)
Other details - Each couplet should stand on it's own, like a haiku. They can work together but sentences or thoughts typically don't bridge the breaks between couplets. There should also be a consistent meter, but there seems to be a lot of variation on that, as there is also variation on how faithfully the radif is repeated or tweaked.
Another detail is that the poet traditionally names herself or himself in the final couplet.
Wikipedia has more detail, of course.
Fascinating and perceptive observations about O2. Just as O2 consumes, it also enables, as a sine qua non of our lives. Burn, baby, burn - but softly. - gerflash
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