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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Trying A Pantoum

       According to Poets.org, The pantoum originated in Malaysia in the fifteenth-century as a short folk poem, typically made up of two rhyming couplets that were recited or sung. However, as the pantoum spread, and Western writers altered and adapted the form, the importance of rhyming and brevity diminished. The modern pantoum is a poem of any length, composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first.  I did repeat the lines that needed repeating, but did change some words.


My Brain Is Fumbling

I race to the next activity
Whereupon I found I was lost
My life's plans often become
Ways that are turned and tossed.



Whenever I find I am lost
It's never a pleasant feeling
Ways that are turned and tossed
Leaves my head quite reeling.

It's not ever a pleasant feeling
And I want it to end, I do
It leaves my head quite reeling
And causes me to be blue

I want it to end, I do
That race to the next activity
My life's plans often become
What causes me to be blue.



And-Remember to check on the Poetry Tag Group shown at the right!  And look at Jama Rattigan's blog post at Jama's Alphabet Soup  to discover so many Poetry sites in the kidlitosphere doing wonderful things!  Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining Mary Lee, at A Year of Reading in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, and Donna at Mainely Write.  Plus Greg Pincus of Gotta Book has just published his first E-book.  See his blog that tells all about it here!

13 comments:

  1. Oh, you know what's coming up for me and the letter P, don't you??? Hope and pray that you get through your jumble and days become yellow again!

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  2. Thanks Donna-I'm trying. Poetry gush actually helps I think! I didn't think about that P for pantoum-oh no! But really, looking forward to it!

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  3. That came out great! A pantoum has been on my list of 'poetic forms I'd like to try' for a while.

    Hopefully your life will slow down a bit so you can enjoy it more.

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    1. Thanks Katya-one of these days! It was fun to try, so hope next time I can write about something more soothing! I can't wait for your journal quilt!

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  4. Good for you for venturing out and trying new forms of poetry. I'm happy just doing my free verse -- no rules to follow but my own! But then again, I guess you did 'change' the rules a bit too. And that's why I love poetry because it's all good! I liked this poem that you created with the repetition of the specific lines. Just remember to slow down, take a breath. Everything will be okay.

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    1. Thank you, Michele. It is just plain fun to try something new, & just as you do with the thread of "one child". It could be a book some day, you know!

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  5. Looks like you had fun pantouming :). I like the second stanza best.

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  6. This looks like no small challenge to take on. Bravo!

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    1. I don't think it's great, but as I said earlier, it was fun to take the challenge, & now I can do it again to see if I learned anything. Thanks Dana!

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  7. Somewhere recently I read a poem of this style and wondered about it. Thanks for taking the time to explain it before sharing your poem. Always fun to try a new form. I enjoyed your line, "ways that are turned and tossed." Life sure has a way of doing that.

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    1. It's an interesting style, like others, with those repeating lines. You have to be so careful what words are in those lines, or you get tired of them. I hope you'll try it, Cathy!

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  8. The science of poetry is something I have yet to master. Thanks for sharing about the pantoum - and sending your brilliant yellow hues and mauve tints from Merlion Land. :)

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