The Ghazal is a very interesting poetry form and it exists throughout the whole of the Moslem world having originated as an Ottoman poetry form. As their religion spread throughout the Ottoman Empire, so also did their poetry.
Mostly the Ghazal is far from religious in its subject matter and indeed the form appears to be blessed with an abundance of erotica.
This is probably why the form became very popular in Europe in the 1800's and then in the US with the "Flower Power" generation.
Unfortunately the essential elements have been lost in these "Modern Ghazals" and I feel it is time to revive them or at least make it known what those essentials were.

The Ghazal is a series of couplets each one capable of standing alone as a poem.
The first couplet is called the matla or the place where the heavenly body rises. To me this sounds like a pretty good start for a poem.
This couplet also sets the meter of the poems and the rhyming pattern. In the true Ghazal, the last word/s of both lines of the first couplet must be the same.
Similarly, the last line of the following couplets must also end with the same word/s.
Modern Ghazals seem only to rhyme these last words. I'll leave that decision up to you.
In the poem "Bitter Race", I have attempted to gather together all the elements of a true Ghazal including a hint of the erotic as well.