The sun did not shine on us
it was too wet and cold to play
so Selma sat in her cozy house
and worked hard on this ghazal all day
~a twittle
top of the morn and the sun smelled peculiar had me sniffing, glancing - recalling - I remember, I remember smooth, sweet, uniquely phantasmagoric, it lingered surreally - recalling - I remember, I remember by and by, the north wind blew long and stronger nostalgic ocean song - recalling - I remember, I remember you, dear motherland, spurred me a memory familial radiance - recalling - I remember, I remember how many oceans did you have to travel to waft with Sun today - recalling - I remember, I remember to send me traveling years back in inhales despite the great distance - recalling - I remember, I remember after dinner, I had an espresso with a drop of anisette - recalling - I remember, I remember Selma's soul was soothed, tomorrow morn she'll bake a batch of anisette cookies - for remembering - I remember! © 2022 All rights reserved
Hello, my lovelies. Happy new week. I hope this poem finds you in great spirits.
When I wrote and recorded this syllabic poem, we had heavy cloud cover and rain
(thus the Dr.Seuss-esque Twittle at the opening). I hope the sun’s not absent in your
area today as you read and/or listen to another poem.
This one I recorded in one lick *smiling* and chose to add Japanese koto music in the
background. It’s from a koto performance in November, in which my sister-in-law, a
gifted koto teacher, presented with her students. Sending a sliver of my world to you.
Some days without even trying, I get whiffs of peculiar scents of yore when doing
ordinary chores, like hanging out the wash on the clothesline.
And I remember, I remember!
At the time of this post and recording, we had no sun, but I summoned it for a prompt:
- Closed my eyes
- Evoked a lovely sunny day, gloriously scented
- I used it as inspiration
That’s the emotion I tried to convey in this, my first attempt at a ghazal, written for a
prompt on Medium. Here’s the free link.
I’m not sure about the tone in this one, and it felt kinda weird to include ‘Selma’
*shrug* in the final couplet.
Adhering to tradition on the ghazal, mine is about longing, and the line lengths are
consistent — 11 syllables in the top portion of each couplet and 17 at the bottom. Take
my word on that, or tap your fingers, my lovelies.
The fun is in the challenge of getting the words on the blank page. My confidence is
low on this one, so if you have constructive feedback, I’d be happy and appreciative.
And if you missed the recorded poem last week, here it is again. Just for you. XO.
Thank you
Thanks for being here, friends. May the climax of the year melt your heart with warmth,
and inward restoration to enjoy stress-free holidays wherever you are.
Thanks for your readership and encouragement; you make this all worth it.
As you’re aware
I’ve no intention of leaving the WordPress community anytime soon while I put great
effort into creating momentum on the Medium platform– a paid platform where anyone
can publish and earn. I do it for the exposure and no-hassle ease of publishing there.
If you’d like to read more from other writers and me, you can with a US $5-a-month subscription. If this appeals to you, kindly consider using my referral link, which provides me with a commission at no extra cost to you.
My Medium referral link: https://selmawrites.medium.com/membership— if you do, I
hope you give me the heads up so I can support you there.
With gratitude, always.
I wish you miracles.
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A beautiful gazal Selma.
thanks for the compliment on my first gazal, Sadje. I bless you. Be well, my sweet. xoxo
It’s my pleasure Selma. 😍
You always surprise with your focus on unusual forms and formats, but it’s your words that capture the mind, heart, and soul. Ah yes, I do remember the smell of clothes hung out to dry in the sun.
Clothes hung out on the clothes line, perfect! Thanks for this lovely response, dear Kathryn. Adore… And guess who received mail today… yup. Made my day all the more perfect. Thanks so much. You are a blessing to me. I bless you, my friend. xoxo
Lovely poems and beautiful presentation, Selma. Your post brought back pleasant memories of my mother. Anise was one of my mother’s favorite flavors. I remember hanging clothes with her when I was six or seven. <3
You’ve gifted me a lovely feeling with this comment, dear Cheryl. Anise and line hung clothes– perfect. So happy you relate. Thanks, dear one. And if we don’t talk again before Christmas, please, know I’m sending you blessings from across the miles. Have a merry and bright Christmas.xoxo
A lovely recording Selma 😊
Ingrid, my sweet, there you are, sweet lady; here I am too, haha. sorry about the late acknowledgement. Thanks, sweetly. I tried it (recording) putting my audience first and foremost. Phew, it was hard. Anyway, so happy you liked it. Bless you. Happy Christmas, may it be merry and bright. Blessings.
Merry Christmas Selma 🎄
Selma, you’ve soothed my soul with your beautiful words and reading. The background music is a lovely addition. You also made my mouth water with the thought of anisette cookies. Delicious!
Aww, Michele Lee, my lovely one. Thanks so much. That you entered so into the poem makes me happy. Thank you. May your Christmas be merry and bright. Blessings.
Sweet you! My pleasure. It’s off to a beautiful start. Wishing you the same!
Such wonderful memories of your mother, Selma, what a blessing! And your recording enriches them. Blessings of the season to you.
Blessings of the season to you too, dear Dora. Thanks for your readership and support. I bless you. xoxo
Loved listening to your ghazal rendition, Selma. Light and beautiful, it was a pleasure to read.
Sonia, Lovely that you read, my sweet lady. Thank you. Happy year end celebrations: happy winter solstice and happy Christmas too. May it be merry and bright. xooxx
Beautiful picture.
Lovely words in Ghazal. So inspiring words recording Ghazal. I like Selma 👍
Really nice memories. Sounded presentation.
I Love it’s Ghazal ❤️
Raj, my sweet. Thank you. Makes me so happy to know you enjoyed it. I bless you. Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. Stay sweet. xoxoxxOO
Yes, So sweet & my pleasure. Thank you so much iam happy too , Selma 👍.
I’ve not heard the term ‘ghazal’ before, so I’ve learned something new today (sorry, I’m so late commenting). Your words here are gorgeous and conjure up all sorts of memories. Mostly, what struck me was that you have such a beautiful speaking voice, Selma. It’s funny how we get an idea of how someone may sound, only to find we are way out in our guess. You have a lovely voice, perfect for reading the words of this ghazal. This verse will stick in my mind. Thanks for sharing it. Love to you, my friend Xx 💙🌷💛
Ellie, my beautiful friend. You are a beautiful human. I’m sure your voice is melodious and tender. That’s how I hear it in my mind. Stay lovely. It’s almost Christmas. Happy Christmas, dear one. I bless you. You are special to me. Love you. xoxoXO
Thank you, Selma. What lovely things to say. I very much appreciate your words. I wish you a Happy Christmas, too, and hope that the New Year brings all good things. Love you, too Xx 💗🎄💕
soothing beautiful in your voice remembering Selma!
Cindy, so happy to know you listened and found it soothing. Appreciate you, dearly. Happy Christmas, sweet lady. I bless you. xoxo
Beautiful write, Selma. xoxo
Jeff, Sir! Thank you so much. xoxo Merry Christmas…
Very nicely done. It is amazing how smells can take us back just like a song does.
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I’ll always remember your beautiful voice sharing this beautiful poem so well done dear Selma! 💞
Thanks for this. Made me smile. Xoxo
I enjoyed the smell of ocean, your espresso, and cookies in your nostalgic ghazal, Selma!
You were there with me, then Lynn. Wonderful. Thanks, dear friend. Blessings.
Excellent recitation, Selma. You have a lovely voice, and speak with lots of emotion.
Tanmay, dearest. Thanks for the encouraging comment. Blessings.