Last Page Before Midnight: a ghazal poem (& narration)

August 10, 2025

Last Page Before Midnight: a ghazal poem (& narration)

I wrote my ghazal poem inspired by the W3 Poetry Prompt #171 where the Poet of the Week, Deanna Avery invites us to write a Ghazal poem.

Read the Ghazal Poetry Prompt guidelines here

Deanna’s prompt guidelines

How about we try our poetic hands at a ghazal?

According to poets.org, a ghazal is “composed of a minimum of five couplets—and typically no more than fifteen—that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally autonomous. Each line of the poem must be of the same length, though meter is not imposed in English. The first couplet introduces a scheme, made up of a rhyme followed by a refrain. Subsequent couplets pick up the same scheme in the second line only, repeating the refrain and rhyming the second line with both lines of the first stanza. The final couplet usually includes the poet’s signature, referring to the author in the first or third person, and frequently including the poet’s own name or a derivation of its meaning.”

You can find some great examples in issue 84 of Rattle.

I also recommend About the Ghazal at American Ghazal by E. A. Melino. In it, Agha Shahid Ali describes the structure like this:

Couplet one:

______________ rhyme A + refrain

Couplet two:

_________________________

______________ rhyme A + refrain

Couplet three:

_________________________

______________ rhyme A + refrain…

…and so on.

Melino quotes Shahid Ali, who compares the ghazal to a necklace: each couplet is like a separate precious stone. When arranged well, their juxtaposition creates a beauty greater than the sum of the parts.

Prompt:
Write a ghazal with at least five couplets. The theme and scheme are entirely up to you. You may include a personal reference or your name in the final couplet—but that part’s optional.

The ghazal is an ancient Persian poetic form, rich with love, roses, and nightingales. Sufi poets often turn its metaphors toward divine or existential longing.

I didn’t know all that when I sat down to write mine. Only afterward did I discover I’d wandered far from tradition—straight into the candlelit corridors of a Western Gothic mood.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy my interpretation of the ghazal (and the narrated version, which lurks in the shadows beneath the poem’s text).

Last Page Before Midnight

written & narrated by Lesley Scoble

A tall ghost wanders on the stair | Digital ink & wash©️Lesley Scoble

Candle-wax drips an eery glow where shadows gloom,
Spectres slyly whisper “hallo” where shadows gloom.

Fear slides through ev’ry cranny of the old manor,
creeping slow—for I dare not go where shadows gloom.

A tall ghost wanders stealthily glides on the stair—
trailing a macabre grey halo where shadows gloom.

Cold unearthly winds blow along the corridor,
Wailing curses waft from below where shadows gloom.

‘Tis dark, austere and chilling in the haunted air—
yet full moons and silver stars show where shadows gloom.

Through fog, distant bells chime the lateness of the hour—
Lesley rubs tired eyes, shuts the ghost story volume.

_{—Lesley Scoble, August 2025}

Audio Narration
In candlelight and shadow, the ghostly tale begins…

Last Page Before Midnight | written and narrated by Lesley Scoble

THANK YOU
Enormous thanks to Deanna for her inspirational ghazal prompt.
My deep gratitude to David at The Skeptic’s Kaddish for his wonderful W3 Poetry Prompts and for his encouragement.
And finally, my heartfelt thanks to you, the reader, for taking the time to read and/or listen to my poem.

To find out more about the W3 Poetry Prompts, please follow the link below.