Persian · noun · Love & Longing

Bosa

बोसा
said BO-sa
also written: bosah, bosa-e
Meaning

A kiss; the kiss granted or begged of the beloved.

Literally: a kiss

Usage & notes

Bosa is the kiss — the longed-for touch of lip to lip or lip to cheek, the intimate prize the lover begs and the beloved rations. The ghazal makes whole dramas of it: the kiss promised, the kiss stolen, the single bosa worth a lifetime of devotion. As the most bodily of love's rewards, it concentrates all the lover's unsatisfied desire into one small, withheld grace.