Depth, Perception and Meaning

Some thoughts and observations about my ghazal experience and education. This essay was included in a chapbook I published in 2002.

In cultures where the ghazal is cradled, the ghazal seems to be much more than a mere form of poetry. It is a genre that melds literary and musical attributes into its own art form, the ghazal. The closest American equivalent might be the Blues, where melody and meter is every bit as pertinent as lyric, mood and meaning. In many ways, the ghazal is the “soul music” of many Indo-Iranian cultures.

The Indo-Iranian ghazal is a conduit for expression of that which has deeply affected the heart and soul. Poets from these cultures rarely, if ever, treat writing ghazals as an exercise in some obscure poetic form; they approach the ghazal with honor and respect and the intention of using it to convey what has profound meaning to them. When a ghazal is written, a soul is laid bare and exposed. It may be an expression of heart thrilling joy, but more often it is the expression of soul rendering sorrow. Whichever the case, the ghazal both expresses and invokes strong emotion.

The ghazal also seems to hold social value within some Indo-Iranian cultures. Once while sitting in a Denny’s in Palo Alto, California, a group of about nine Punjabi Indians came in and sat at a table near me. They were clearly stopping off for conversation and food after the close of a nearby celebration they attended. During their conversation, three of them suddenly broke into song together and when they stopped, another member suggested they all sing more traditional ghazals. Shortly, the whole table was harmoniously singing a series of ghazals. This went on for nearly an hour.

My exploration of the ghazal began on strictly technical terms in order to develop an intuitive sense of the structure. Upon developing some level of comfort with technicalities, I moved toward putting more of my self, my heart, into each ghazal. Though I felt that only very few might relate to what were, for me, soul rendering experiences, I moved ahead with the project and sought creative, metaphorical and sometimes cryptic ways to bare this soul and heart of mine, to share the experiences of my life and the understandings that have developed as a result. I still ask myself whether or not this counts as “soul rendering”, as I have learned the ghazal must be. But, when I think on that which has been my life, the experiences that nearly extinguished the light of my existence spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically, it occurs to me that perhaps I may be uniquely qualified to tackle the English ghazal. My soul has indeed been rendered apart like that of a shattered crystal, then by some miracle carefully reinstated over a long and arduous healing process. I hope may one day be seen as having offered something tangible and perhaps even valuable to the English renditions of the ghazal.

While crafting ghazals, I have struggled to educate myself about the form and its history. This has been difficult, as there is a language barrier. However, through conversations with those familiar with the ghazal, through listening to ghazal recordings from a dozen languages and through reading ghazal translations to English and related articles, I am learning. As I learn more, my perception of the ghazal evolves, which in turn deepens the depth and meaning of each new ghazal written.