[Ghazal is a poetic form of Arab origin consisting of between 5 and 15 couplets. Traditionally, it is metered (how many feet per line varies from poem to poem, but shouldn’t within a couplet,) and has a rhyme scheme of AA-BA-CA-DA-etc. A common theme word or phrase across couplets is also tradition, and it often forms the rhyme. Loss and separation are among the most common themes.]

In the airport, I think I’ll find a way
to be “he who stayed” as I go away.

“Left” and “stayed” aren’t just matters of locale.
Some who stay, long ago drifted away.

Some retreat within their seats, I speak true.
Body here; mind a million miles away.

Unwalking undead, this kind of zombie.
So, the living must become runaways.

They’ll say I’m playing games of semantics,
but games are done, now I must go away.