Pantoum: a pantoum is a malay form. It is written in quatrains and repeats whole lines in an interlocking pattern. The second and fourth lines of any stanza become the first and third lines of the stanza that follows. An ideal pantoum will end with the poem’s opening line- creating a kind of circle. Pantoums need not rhyme, but most certainly can. They can vary from two stanzas to as many as you wish to write.

I had to write a pantoum for an assignment. Cyclical events are usually great topics for pantoums. Many have been written about relationships, the seasons, weather, the tides, etc. If it’s cyclical, it’s good for a pantoum. My first try is just that…a try.

Living by the Fist

He learned life the wrong way,
living it by the fist.
He watched his dad with his mom first and
practiced what he had been taught.

Living life by the fist,
he hurt her.
He practiced what he’d been taught,
beating the woman he said he loved.

He hurt her,
blaming her for his actions.
He beat the woman he said he loved
and then stormed out of the house.

He blamed her for his actions,
she believed his accusations.
He stormed out of the house
and she was left to recover.

She believed his accusations
and tried to make things better.
She was left to recover alone
until he came home with flowers.

She tried to make things better
but saw the beginnings of the end.
He came home with flowers
to begin living life by the fist again.