Three Ghazals

by Jeffrey Burghauser (April 2020)


Hylas and the Nymphs, John William Waterhouse, 1896

 

 

[1]

 

There’s no fever Mercy can’t

Build a Bethlehem around.

 

Show me marble comeliness

Faith can fix a stem around.

 

Basic life’s a burlap square

Mercy is the hem around.

 

Poet, here’s a breeze you may

Wrap a requiem around.

 

 

[2]

 

Join me, shepherdess, within this glade of rage,

Where I sprawl beneath the thickened shade of rage.

 

Will the sylvan nymph unbind her fragrant hair?

It’s congested deftly in a braid, like rage.

 

She declines. I sniff like an aristocrat,

And caress the soft, Venetian suede of rage.

 

“Equal work,” they say, “deserves its equal pay”;

It appears that I’ve been overpaid by rage.

 

Boredom is a Danzig thaler; fear, a void.

Anger is a wooden nickel. Trade with rage.

 

All these moms & maids & maiden aunts were led

Very well when led to be afraid of rage.

 

 

[3]

 

Heaven’s fulcrum is a rowlock made of brass.

Hum a hymn, and dip your oar into the night.

 

I catch most of my experience by day,

Conjure, and release my lore into the night.

 

Swear,” she importuned. I turned toward her face,

Looked into her eyes, and swore into the night.

 

Poet, armed but with a flask of Persian ink,

You can stalk a carnivore into the night.

 

«Previous Article Table of Contents Next Article»

 

 

__________________________________

Jeffrey Burghauser is a teacher in Columbus, OH. He was educated at SUNY-Buffalo and the University of Leeds. He currently studies the five-string banjo with a focus on pre-WWII picking styles. A former artist-in-residence at the Arad Arts Project (Israel), his poems have appeared (or are forthcoming) in Appalachian Journal, Fearsome Critters, Iceview, Lehrhaus, and New English Review. Jeffrey’s book-length collections are available on Amazon, and his website is www.jeffreyburghauser.com.

Follow NER on Twitter @NERIconoclast

image_pdfimage_print

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

New English Review Press is a priceless cultural institution.
                              — Bruce Bawer

Order here or wherever books are sold.

The perfect gift for the history lover in your life. Order on Amazon US, Amazon UK or wherever books are sold.

Order on Amazon, Amazon UK, or wherever books are sold.

Order on Amazon, Amazon UK or wherever books are sold.

Order on Amazon or Amazon UK or wherever books are sold


Order at Amazon, Amazon UK, or wherever books are sold. 

Order at Amazon US, Amazon UK or wherever books are sold.

Available at Amazon US, Amazon UK or wherever books are sold.

Send this to a friend