Don't Muzzle the Ghazal

December Update

Even though it's still November — Thanksgiving in the Ozarks, good smells from the kitchen, the grandkids' puppy playing with frozen leaves in the backyard — even though it's November for eight more days, I am thinking about, planning for, December.

In the last post, I announced the poets that will be in the December issue. Add to their number, Conrad Geller. Four poets — Bill Batcher, Conrad Geller, Steffen Horstmann, Cathryn Shea — and seven ghazals.

An while you're reading, let me remind you of the "clouds and rain" radif challenge. I do have some entries, with more promised, but suprise me, okay?

Thanksgiving morning, the household awakens to wind and snow;
My grandchildren's puppy dances with leaves in wind and snow.

An isolated ghazal couplet ("sher") is called a fard, at least regarding Ghalib's poetry. The link goes to my 2004 Ghazal Blog, where "fard" is briefly defined. (I wouldn't stand by the main proposal in that post, by the way.)

Welcome to "Don't Muzzle the Ghazal"

Some of you may be familiar with Gino's Ghazal Blog on The Ghazal Page. I'm experimenting with housing that blog here on TypePad, where it will be more accessible and more interactive. Later today, I'll put links to this blog on The Ghazal Page.

Having just typed a paragraph, I want to say that Type Pad's interface looks pretty good—clean and usable.

As the name suggests, this blog will focus on the ghazal form of poetry. You can find examples and definitions on The Ghazal Page; there will be some examples and definitions here as well. The Ghazal Blog is not limited to the ghazal, however, and will include discussions of other forms of poetry, of poets, of poetic theories, of issues related to poetry and to publishing. Other topics not so poetic may show up once in awhile.

I plan to post at least once a week, probably on the weekend. Thank yo for reading this post. Comments etc are welcome so long as they're civil.