Late to the poetry party

Appreciating a ghazal later in life - it's never too late to pick up a poem.

Before I start, a huge welcome to all new subscribers, thank you so much for joining me here and supporting The Ageing Optimist. I am more than grateful to you all, thank you.

Just like big knickers, comfy shoes and classical music, poetry has arrived rather late in my life. Although I very much enjoyed poetry at school and can still recite the first verse of Kubla Khan by heart (unfortunately that’s about as good as it gets), as a style of literature I know very little at all about its forms and fundamentals.

Taking some time recently to delve further into what I used to think of as an academic art form, not for the likes of me, I was flabbergasted by the vast number of different types of poetry, most I had never heard of. Until last week I thought Villanelle was the name of the main character in Killing Eve, little did I know it is also a 17th century 19 line poem with a strict rhyming scheme.

Reading about the many different forms while trying not to be overwhelmed by alien terms no doubt familiar to poetry scholars; dizains, tercets, spondees, trochees, tankas and pantoums to name a few, I came across an ancient form of poetry originating from Arabia called Ghazal poetry, apparently notoriously hard to master even though it has been around for 1400 years.

I do like a challenge, anything to keep the little grey cells from dropping off to sleep so I thought I would give it a try. Here is a very brief outline of what a Ghazal poem should include:

• Every stanza has two lines (a couplet).

• Every couplet must end with a full stop.

• Each line must have the same number of syllables.

• There must be a minimum of 5 couplets and a maximum of 15.

• The first two lines of the poem and every even numbered line ends with the same word, called a radeef.

• The word before the radeef is the kaafiya. It must rhyme in each couplet but the same word must not be repeated.

• It should be possible to read each couplet as a stand alone poem.

By all accounts, a poem in this form can take months and months to perfect so bearing in mind it is a first attempt and I only had one day to complete it I am not expecting poetry publishers to come knocking at the door soon!

One Year

Autumn’s splendour past, no crisp crunch, raking piles of dead leaves

For one last fire. Stone cold grey ashes an unused bed leaves.

Searching for lost daydreams made at night in long summer grass

Now mown, seeds left to nature’s will in the scars our tread leaves.

Hands, ungloved, sore through years of clinging on to broken glass

Pray silently for the day when hope returns and dread leaves.

Winter bare, life waiting under layers of frosty white

As wood crackles, soft days feed the soul. Sorrow, unfed, leaves.

With no fanfare, green Spring melts into the pale haze of Summer.

A year passed, joy sweeps in on a carpet of Autumn red leaves.

I found this very tricky and wish I had more time to edit and re-edit as every time I read it through words that need changing hit me in the eye, making me want to start from scratch, in fact I nearly scrapped it completely this morning before I pressed the publish button.

Then I stopped for a cup of tea and gave myself a pat on the back. I have had a go, that’s the important thing. I started somewhere, even if it is not great, it was fun but stretching to do and I have learnt something, which is always a good thing.

In hindsight, I think I always found writing poetry a bit scary, in case there was a right and wrong way of arranging words on the page. After finding out more about the subject it would seem that is true, there are so many different types of poetry including Elizabethan and Italian sonnets, sestinas and American cinquains - each one with a language of its own with particular rhymes and rhythms.

One could easily be put off by all the jargon and I am sure there is a certain amount of snobbery that exists in some poetry circles but the more I read the more fascinated I become by poetry and its meaning in our lives.

I have made it a Summer project of my own to try and attempt as many types of poetry as I can, maybe one will jump out at me and become a favourite to concentrate on. Who knows? I certainly don’t, but that won’t stop me trying.

Do let me know if you are a poetry lover, whether a long term aficionado or like me have recently become a fan. As with all things new, it can feel a little daunting to share our attempts with others but everyone has to start somewhere and it is always nice not to feel alone!

Lots of love,

Lindsey x