This is a rewrite of a ghazal written several years ago, making this my 130th. The refrain and preceding rhyme are the same, though possibly more appropriately approached this time around.
Offerings
I’ll walk through tattered corridors of time for you;
I’ll pick through rooms dilapidate with grime for you.
I almost didn’t make it through yon craggy pass,
but I’ll go back and map that deadly climb for you.
Because the great flood covered riches deep in mud,
I dredge destruction from the fetid slime for you.
A legend tells of treasure sunk where memory dims;
I’ll find those depths and search that watery clime for you.
Since priceless pearls were buried with the fractured years,
I dig amongst these bones beneath the lime for you.
A thief once entered in the night and took all hope;
I’ve striven ever since to solve this crime for you.
We lean against a storm of sharp discordant words;
I’ll try to harmonize them into rhyme for you.
The soft wind carries voices from translucent skies
which whisper meaning on the garden chime for you.
The original, written in June of 2002, can be read under this title: “Offering” (not pluralized).
