Tag Archives: ghazal

Using form: Ghazal: Peggy Landsman, ‘In the End’

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Accept that everything ends in the end.
Nothing is left to defend in the end.

Whatever happens in this world of ours,
What’s not healed or resolved rends in the end.

We want to believe that time heals all wounds,
But we must make our amends in the end.

Justice delayed is justice denied,
Just as they intend in the end.

Feel the iron fist in the velvet glove.
The least bending of wills bends in the end.

“Kein Mensch muss müssen.” No one’s compelled to be compelled.
“Just following orders” is condemned in the end.

There are plenty of substitutes for the truth;
It is disbelief that suspends in the end.

*****

I think this ghazal speaks for itself, but there’s one thing that I’d like to credit. The German “Kein Mensch muss müssen” is from the play Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781).

Peggy Landsman is the author of the full-length poetry collection, Too Much World, Not Enough Chocolate (Nightingale & Sparrow Press, 2024), in which “In the End” appears. To read more of her work, visit her website: peggylandsman.wordpress.com

“FDR Memorial – Washington DC – 00055 – 2012-03-15” by Tim Evanson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0: “They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers… call this a New Order. It is not new and it is not order.”

Using form: ghazal: Barbara Lydecker Crane, ‘Love Refrains’

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Mom banged her hairbrush down in a reprimand of love.
“What an awful question! You don’t understand love.

“Of course Dad loves you. How can you question that?
He doesn’t have to blare it out, like a brass band of love.

“You aren’t a princess to be coddled on a lap or praised
without good reason. That’s a never-never land of love.

“Your father works hard, with a great deal on his mind.
Now don’t go causing trouble, making a demand of love.

“Yes, I know he yells and sends you to your room a lot.
But be glad he never hits you with the backhand of love.

“Once, banished to your room, you drew a picture poem
for him. I watched him beam at you with unplanned love.

“He said he’s proud of you. I’ve heard him tell you twice.”
She brushed my hair, hard. “Barbara, that’s a brand of love.”

Barbara Lydecker Crane writes: “Based on a real interaction with my mother when I was about five, I think this poem reflects a different style of parenting back then (this was in the 50’s), perhaps a British approach: “don’t spoil your children with a lot of praise or affection.” I like modern ways better! As for the form, I love ghazals because you always know where you are headed–the fun is choosing your route to get there.”

Barbara Lydecker Crane was a finalist for two recent Rattle Poetry Prizes, including with this poem.  She has received two Pushcart nominations and various awards from the Maria W. Faust and the Helen Schaible Sonnet Contests. Her poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Ekphrastic Review, First Things, Light, THINK, Valparaiso Literary Review, Writer’s Almanac, many others, and in several anthologies. Her fourth collection, You Will Remember Me (ekphrastic, persona sonnets) was recently published by Able Muse Press, and is available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/You-Will-Remember-Me-Ekphrastic/dp/1773491261. Barb lives with her husband near Boston.

Photo: “She’s On The Naughty List” by Cayusa is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.