Sometimes life wheels grind and strain my tenacity,
Lost in clouds my troubled mind grasps for sanity.
.
Are my heartfelt words enough or excess chatter?
Even minor rebuff shakes my strained sanity.
.
I trundle on, an inner GPS is my guide
sending me back along a path to sanity.
.
Enjoy moments, release selfish concerns, allow
it all to float away–then I’ll find sanity.
.
No formula cures a restless spirit more than
love, giving love, our foundation, our sanity.
.
∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼
The ghazal is an ancient form of Arabic poetry originating in the 7th or 8th century. Centuries later, English writers experimented with the form using free verse and recently, favoring uniform measures and use of rhyme. When Jane Dougherty invited us to write a ghazal this week I hesitated, but after stumbling on a fascinating article about the form I realized that I wanted to make an attempt.
©2016, all rights reserved by ontheland.wordpress.com
.
Ontheland 
Thanks for educating me on this style of poetry. I really enjoyed reading it
As for the poem itself, this line particularly struck me;
‘Even minor rebuff shakes my strained sanity’
I am hypersensitive, so even something as small as a change in someone’s expression or their voice inflection is enough to stoke the fires of my depression.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you like the form…mine is only a novice’s example but if I try more at some time down the road I won’t be surprised…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your feedback about the line…and as a sensitive person myself I ‘m thinking at this moment that the word ‘minor’ is loaded –what is minor to one person is absolutely not to another.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Take a deep breath and watch the clouds go by 🙂 Another peaceful poem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Behind the clouds there is peace…not so easy to get there sometimes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful poem 🙂
LikeLike
Enjoyed, as well as the article you linked. Very informative/insightful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The article is thick with detail but I found the story of the ghazal’s evolution and the examples very interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Janice, well done for tackling this form of poetry; your poem is very evocative and I love how you mingle this ancient format with modern gizmos! Interesting article and I was particularly fascinated by Goethe’s use of the form as I studied his work at university – but missed this piece of knowledge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Annika 🙂 yes this definitely was a contemporary attempt. Your mention of Goethe has whetted my appetite to read more ghazals:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful poem.
It’s interesting how this particular poetry form has so many variations, or rather no hard and fast rules, other than the repeated word or phrase.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Merril. It is interesting. It may be sort of like haiku where there are different communities or schools of thought with their own collection of conventions. One aspect that I find fascinating is the idea that each couplet stand as its own thought as well as fit into the whole in some way such as emotion or theme.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An interesting form of Poetry Janice, I tend to stick to Haiku for sanity’s sake!
LikeLiked by 1 person
:))
LikeLike
Beautiful poem.
I am also a novice and this was my first attempt.
LikeLike
Thank you 🙂 I enjoy trying out forms.
LikeLiked by 1 person