Wrong by Ada Gu

Wrong by Ada Gu

The acrid smell of burnt food wafting out
The bread has been in the oven too long

Memories fading, crumbling to dust
Time has flown too freely, the years too long

The madrigal has forgotten her song
She stayed silent, quelled for too long

The melody is played, then comes silence
The piece is too short, the page is too long

The little boat seems to sputter and die
The sun vanishes, the river is too long

God cries, Ada, his will I do ignore
I have tried to do right for much too long

This poem is written in the Ghazal tradition, which is currently practiced in Iran (Farsi), Pakistan (Urdu) and India (Urdu and Hindi). Ghazals have been set to music and have often been used in recordings and in movies. A traditional Ghazal consists of five to fifteen couplets, typically six or seven. A refrain appears at the end of the second line of each couplet. The lines are of approximately the same length and meter. In the final couplet, the poet usually uses his or her name in second or third person to give a more direct declaration of thought or feeling to the reader. This poem ties in with my theme as I wanted to portray the idea of being trapped into doing what is right, rather than following your heart or your own ideas. It speaks about being trapped in silence, in time, of finding yourself coming up short, or finding yourself running out of time. You could interpret this poem in many ways, but mostly, I wanted to embody the feeling of being trapped in life, and losing what is important due to trying to do what's right.