The Lion's Ghazal

I’ve hidden the most whimsical nuances
between the sheets and the sheet’s nuances

whatever’s under earth you ask
torments the sky’s fanciful nuances

the bone diggers still deep in flesh
to ring elysian sleep’s stiff nuances.

How we fell and how the fallen free
the house and card’s subtle nuances

from uncut factory pages, scattering
our selves to the wind’s nuances.

It’s the separation of seeing and dreaming;
the problem of discernment has nuances

where you can’t tell if the lion at the table
hungers or is naturally licking his nuances.

-Leonid Shneyder