I’m thrilled to share that Clerestory has published my poem “Hymn for the Front Porch Rocking Chair:”
“Hymn for the Front Porch Rocking Chair” is a pantoum, which is a Malaysian form of poetry built on quatrains where each line repeats twice. The first and third lines of the poem become the second and fourth lines in the final quatrain. The second and fourth lines in the opening quatrain then become the first and third lines in the next quatrain. This pattern repeats as long as needed, until the final quatrain (there is no set number of quatrains). At least in English, there aren’t any requirements for line length or rhyme scheme.
The repetition of the pantoum lines can create a hypnotic, back-and-forth effect that may feel haunting, sad, or even ecstatic. By the final repeated lines of the poem, there may be some sort of shift in narrative. Or perhaps not. For any subject matter that feels like “two steps forward, one step back,” and/or like the ebb and flow of waves, I recommend the pantoum. I staggered the stanzas in my pantoum to emphasize this oscillating energy.
In an interview a few years ago, I asked Malaysian poet Ezra Jalin about the role of the pantoum in contemporary Malaysian society. Read his response here. And check out Rattle for other examples of the pantoum, whose form can be surprisingly versatile in subject matter and meter.
What about you: what experience do you have reading, and/or writing, pantoums? What superpowers have you discovered in the pantoum form? I’d love to hear what you think!
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