Playing with falling meter, stresses and destresses and Arabic Ghazals

A Ghazal

By Mary Hill

Quick note: I have fallen behind because of family health issues. I will combine F and G today to catch up. Thanks.

F stands for things I can’t seem to hear or master. The first term I ran acrossed that really keeps me from being a real honest to goodness, full-fIedged poet is foot. I admit I cannot hear the stressed syllables in words. I guess I have stress deafness.

Then there is the term “falling meter.”  I am looking for rocks to hit me in the head here, but this is about stresses and destresses. You switch up words that have stresses in different syllables. Once again I  have stress deafness.

Did you know rhyme also feminine and masculine qualities?  In feminine the rhyme occurs in a final unstressed syllable. So how can I create feminine rhyme when I can’t seem to figure out which is the stressed and unstressed syllable. Oh, to not be stress deaf. I could be a real poet and really know it!

Do I even dare attempt to rhyme
I will try although I am afraid I will commit a serious crime
See my lines are too long as I stretch to make sense
Of rhyming and to not get caught up in stupid nonsence
So I am a major poet of big pretense.

All I can say is I need help as a poet.  I guess this takes 
as Daniel Coyle says in his book, Talent Code “deep practice.”
Deep practice is not really a new concept, but Coyle describes it as practicing without worrying about mistakes. In fact, you want to make mistakes so that you can learn from them.  

I like free verse a lot because it does not have to have rhyme or meter. It is perfect for the stress deaf.

Now, I move on to G.  G was hard to find. I found one type of poetry that has its roots in Arabic poetry know as a ghazal.  It is a poem that is written in couplets and has a rhyme scheme of aa, ba, ca, da, etc. The poems, I have seen though, actually repeat the last word of the second line in each couplet.

Here is a link to a ghazal master and his poems:  Agha Shahid Ali.

My own Ghazal:

Ode to the Cat

Have you ever seen such creatures 
Sleek moves and amazing features

Whiskers that feel and eyes that slant sharp
Tongues and claws all part of the incredible features

These animals have their own minds
Independent and alluring are their main features

They don’t make time for you unless they are ready
When they are ready they want your attention on all their features.