The poetic form of the ghazal is strict. Stanzas are limited to two lines, syllable counts between them are the same, and there is a consistent refrain and penultimate rhyming word in each stanza. Enjambment between stanzas is restricted as each stanza has to be its own concise thought. Although the stanzas of the ghazal allow for disunity in content between them, it is the form that unites it. Agha Shahid Ali (the Kashmiri-American poet credited with bringing the ghazal to America) compared the relationship between the ghazal and the poet to that of a slave and master switching roles. Once the poet establishes the form with the first line, the roles switch. The poet is now attempting to "master the master". This contentious metaphor of master/slave and notions of power are prevelant in other modern American ghazals such as Tracy K. Smith's Ghazal and Patricia Smith's Speak Now, Or Forever. Hold Your Peace. Following in these traditions, I reflect on the notions of power that emerge in personal and general conceptions of the grid: the grid as arbiter of eurocentric design practices, the Grindr grid, and the urban grid, to name a few. Where does the power lie in the ghazal? Where does the power emerge in the grid?

Grid-zal was written and designed by Bradley Sinanan in Aidan Quinlan's Handmade Web Course, Spring 2023. Many thanks to Aidan for his guidance and generosity.