Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category
Sonnet Ghazal
Friday, July 15th, 2011
by Roger Sedarat
From Roger Sedarat’s collection of poetry Ghazal Games (2011, Ohio University Press).
Hafez, the baker, could see what I mean;
If she were a spice, she’d be cinnamon.
It’s both terrifying and exciting,
The idea that she’d see other men.
Oh God, I’d sell my soul to watch her walk;
Hear my prayer, and grant me this sin. Amen.
I heard the great poets of Shiraz sing
Through olive vein-lines of her Persian skin.
I know; this ghazal objectifies her,
Ignoring feminist criticism.
Reversing the Cinderella story,
She turns all princes into cindermen.
“Your next patient, doctor. It’s Roger S.”
“The one love sick for his wife? Send him in.”
Ghazal Games – new book just out by Roger Sedarat
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
Available now online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble .
Ghazal Games
Reviews
Ghazal Games overflows with intelligent charm: its well-formed couplets, fueled by iconoclasm, are blessed with clarity, goodheartedness, pizzazz, and prankishness. Let’s crown Roger Sedarat the king of Carnival; long may he reign.
–Wayne Koestenbaum — author of Best–Selling Jewish Porn Films
From Roger Sedarat’s collection of poetry Ghazal Games
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
Ghazal Game #1
Think of the greatest love you’ve ever had ( ).
Write his/her name in the space provided_____.
As long as you reiterate this name,
The semblance of this ghazal is complete:_____!
Don’t doubt, no matter what terror may come,
That God will fill your emptiness with Dear_____.
For me, Janette. For Dante, Beatrice.
For Rumi, Shams-y-Tabriz. And for you?_____.
Space makes the greatest rhyme. Sufis know this,
In spite of their lust for someone just like_____.
Now burn your useless books! You’ll learn much more
Inside schoolhouses of desire taught by_____.
Is it so silly, making readers work?
Doesn’t most poetry ask you to find_____?
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here
To join (state your full name) and (state his/hers)_____…”
Computer code, universal language,
Breaks down when translating the essence of_____.
Would you obsess over your petty shame?
Instead, substitute it with a kiss from_____.
All maps lead you to bliss. Your G.P.S.
Just estimates the time and distance to_____.
Before the loggers come for the last tree,
Write this last line with a sharp knife: I ? _____.
At this point, do you think you really chose_____?
Before you were born, you were chosen by_____!