It's been a while since I tried writing a form poem, so when Robert Lee Brewer posted a challenge on Poetic Asides; I took the bait. The form is Pantoum.
A pantoum is composed of 4-line stanzas (quatrains). The minimum is two, but there is no maximum. The second and fourth lines in a stanza become the first and third lines in the following stanza. "Robert's rules" suggested that lines two and four of the final stanza be the same as lines one and three of the opening stanza. Lines one and three rhyme, and lines two and four rhyme.
I still had snow on my mind (and in my yard) so I wrote about a storm. I had to backtrack a few times to make both the rhyme scheme and repetition work. Following is the finished product:
Stuck
The storm hits
with two fists
Traffic sits
Windows mist
With two fists,
hold the wheel
Windows mist
View concealed
Hold the Wheel
The storm hits
View concealed
Traffic sits
I made the choice to keep all lines at three syllables. I thought the rhythm and the shortness of the lines fit with the theme.
I made the choice to keep all lines at three syllables. I thought the rhythm and the shortness of the lines fit with the theme.
I enjoyed writing this pantoum and think I will work with this form again.
Have you ever written a pantoum? Do you write any form poems or do you steer clear of traditional forms?
Links that might be of interest:
No comments:
Post a Comment