My very first girlfriend studied ethnic dance at UCLA, amongst other things. She was born in Taiwan, but raised in Southern California. Although we were only an item for about a year and a half, she had a tremendous impact on my life in general.
I owe her a lot, actually, for she inspired me to better myself in multiple ways—Everything from the way I talked and carried myself to the way I perceived the world and my place within it. If we never met, I’m sure that I would still be an irrepressible, delinquent teenager, or worse. She was a catalyst for self-improvement, so it seemed fitting to dedicate a ghazal to her even though many years have passed and we have both long since moved on.
Dancelight
For Wennifer
Though countless twirling wonders dance before to bait my heart,
Her dance splits night asunder—brilliance holds elate my heart.
When first her dark eyes opened, all the bashful heavens blushed;
The full moon danced out singing, “Let her gaze gyrate my heart!”
I saw her lightly dancing midst a grove of cherry trees,
Their blossoms rained upon her; scenes as such translate my heart.
A weeping porcelain rose cried, “Once with dancing step she passed;
She picked me up and kissed me; now what love can sate my heart?”
Her midnight jasmine fragrance dances playful on the wind,
And drifts across the rooftops on to stimulate my heart.
She walked down by the ocean where the waves danced at her feet,
The sea said, “Though I fall back, this does not abate my heart.”
One day I heard Zahhar say, “I did not know how to dance,
And though she tried to teach me, I could not locate my heart.”
This is my 111th ghazal.
Publication History:
Muse Apprentice Guild (web-based) — Fall 2003
