Chambers of This Heart

Complaint (Meter-Corrected English Ghazal) May we have leave today to speak our hearts to you, To place our quiet complaint in full before your view? ⸻ What if you turn away on hearing what we say— How shall we tell this tale again, or start anew? ⸻ May we have leave to open all the doors within, To draw the windows wide—and welcome in just you? ⸻ Yes, let us show you now the chambers of this heart, Each hidden wish and dream—its soul laid bare and true. ⸻ For you already dwell within our heart always, You know each trembling beat, each breath we wander through. ⸻ You live within our breath, within each passing hour, Why must we call your name again, as if you’re new? ⸻ From these small windows, what more can we reveal, When every secret grief is known already to you? ⸻ Why shape the heart’s long tale in words that fall so short, Why speak of what is felt, when all is known to you? ⸻ Why circle back again to grievances and pain, When we, have erred—and faltered often ⸻ Why robe you in a light so flawless, so divine, Call you an angel—and make ourselves ache for you?