#pantoum poems on Hello Poetry

Matthew Hernandez Apr 2016

Pantoum

The pantoum is the poet's task.
It twists the mind, that rhyming test.
I'm left with a strong need to ask,
is there a method you'd suggest?

It twists the mind, that rhyming test.
Rewrites add wrinkles to my brain.
Is there a method you'd suggest
to keep me from going insane?

Rewrites add wrinkles to my brain
as I struggle to end my phrase.
to keep me from going insane,
could you offer a little praise?

As I struggle to end my phrase,
I'm left with a strong need to ask,
could you offer a little praise?
The pantoum is the poet's task!

A friend challenged me to write a pantoum. I found it difficult. Please let me know what you think.

#pantoum

Farosty Jul 2015

یاد . remember

It exists no more
Lost in time
Memories, how they fade

I’m in yours
Mine is lost
It exists no more

No blacks, no whites, just grays
Shouting to be heard
Memories, how they fade

Pictures torn
Letters burned
It exists no more

Past set ablaze
Frozen forever
Memories, how they fade

Shut the door
Knocks the same day
It exists no more
Memories, how they fade

#love #poem #loss #memories #lost #remember #imagery #memory #pantoum #farosty

Phil Lindsey Jun 2015

The Lighthouse Keeper

The keeper of illumination
Aye, the keeper of the light
Safety first, his fascination
Dusk to evening through the night.

Aye, the keeper of the light,
Every season, every day
Dusk to evening, through the night
He tends the beacon, shows the way.

Every season, every day
Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs
He tends the beacon, shows the way
The Fresnel lantern he prepares.

Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs
Skyward, toward the landing high
The Fresnel lantern he prepares
Lighthouse beacon must not die.

Skyward, toward the landing high
Strike the match, produce the spark
Lighthouse beacon must not die.
Guides ships safely through the dark.

Strike the match, produce the spark
Safety first, his fascination
Guides ships safely through the dark
The keeper of illumination.
Phil Lindsey 6/25/15

My first attempt at 'pantoum'. Please help, criticism welcome! :-) We visited a lighthouse on Hunting Island (South Carolina) yesterday. Great day, fascinating lighthouse!

#keeper #pantoum #lighthouse

PrttyBrd May 2010

Chasing Rainbows Out of Time (a pantoum)

Chasing rainbows out of time
There is not room to pause
Hesitate and be left behind
Reluctance be the cause

There is not room to pause
When running after dreams
Reluctance be the cause
All is not as it seems

When running after dreams
The world can speed right passed
All is not as it seems
Can dreams be made to last?

The world can speed right passed
With a dream just out of reach
Can dreams be made to last?
Is there a price to pay for each?

With a dream just out of reach
The focus can be intense
Is there a price to pay for each?
Can the cost be too immense?

The focus can be intense
Yet, it can slip right through your fingers
Can the cost be too immense
When the pain from failure lingers?

Yet, it can slip right through your fingers
Through fists clenched with all your might
When the pain from failure lingers
Don't hold the past too tight

Through fists clenched with all your might
You cannot feel the world around you
Don't hold the past too tight
You will find that it has bound you

You cannot feel the world around you
Hesitate and be left behind
You will find that it has bound you
Chasing rainbows out of time

52410

#pantoum

Danielle Shorr May 2015

14 Days

It is Tuesday again and he loves a girl who isn't me.
In 14 days I will have survived another year.
It has been about a week since he hasn't responded.
I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks this heavily.

In 14 days I will have survived another year.
I pour my heart into an unopened bottle of wine.
I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks this heavily.
Half of my bed is on the floor, sheets included.

I pour my heart into an unopened bottle of wine.
It has been about a week since he hasn't responded.
Half of my bed is on the floor, sheets included.
It is Tuesday again and he loves a girl who isn't me.

#pantoum

Emily Anne Schumann Apr 2015

Repentance

— after Melancholia

She’d have walked through fire for him —
A stranger with a fractured chameleon soul,
Tumultuous depths and misguided hymns,
But promises of patience and a steady stroll.

Stranger still, a fractured chameleon soul,
Restless beneath wind-tremors and silt-clay loam.
But with promises of patience and a steady stroll,
She follows the moon that leads her home

Restlessly. Wind tremors and silt-clay loam,
Burnt umber flicker-beats and faded birches.
She follows the moon, led home
To an abandoned, white-chip-painted church.

Beyond umber flicker-beats and faded birches,
He preached of salvation, but fell privy
Inside the abandoned, white-chip-painted church
Where green was gold and gold was envy.

He preached of salvation, but fell privy
To tumultuous depths and a misguided hymn.
Green was gold and gold was envy —
She’d have walked through fire for him.

#love #fire #religion #salvation #forgiveness #repentance #pantoum

ms reluctance Apr 2015

Guardians of the Night

The wolves come out to watch
when night falls.
They mean you no harm.
They will not leave.

When night falls,
your silent guardians rise.
They will not leave
until you are ready to wake.

Your silent guardians rise,
sentient of your dreams
until you are ready to wake;
their firefly eyes aglow.

Sentient of your dreams,
they mean you no harm.
Their firefly eyes aglow,
the wolves come out to watch.

NaPoWriMo Day #24
Poetry form: Pantoum

#dream #night #wolves #watch #napowrimo #pantoum #guardians

Danielle Shorr Apr 2015

At My Worst I Am

At my worst I am a deflated pillow, memory foam mattress, lifeless exhaustion with the imprint of human, I am the still-living outer layer of a decaying earth, this being is a hollowed oak tree
I am grounded for one night at fifteen and realize that I deserve a much longer sentence than given
I did too much holding the potential of harmful; the risks were not worth the high
I miss a life without knowing you existed

I am grounded for one night at fifteen and realize that I deserve a much longer sentence than given
Mistakes are made temporary with permanent consequences
I did too much holding the potential of harmful; the risks were not worth the high
Somehow I survived

Mistakes are made temporary with permanent consequences
I did too much holding the potential of harmful; the risks were not worth the high
Somehow I survived
At my worst I am a deflated pillow, memory foam mattress, lifeless exhaustion with the imprint of human, I am the still-living outer layer of a decaying earth, this being is a hollowed oak tree

from writing exercise #98

#pantoum

A Yellow Domino Mar 2015

-

you're tired
carrying the weight of the world
running, running away
what are you chasing?

carrying the weight of the world
against your frail fragile frame
what are you chasing?
peace, quiet, the paradise you'll never find

against your frail fragile frame
still nowhere to hide
peace, quiet, the paradise you'll never find
you're lost

still nowhere to hide
running, running away
you're lost
you're tired

#pantoum

Anneke Feb 2015

When is It Enough?

We try and try and try, we give it our all
Yet things are mostly left undone
We always say “you’ll do better next time”
but we know that is not the case 

Although things are mostly left undone
We put in the hours until we are prepared.
We know that is not the case
when we get the grade back. 

We put in the hours until we are prepared.
Continually hoping for a better day
until we get the grade back
and tomorrow brings another storm.

Continually hoping for a better day
We say “you’ll do better next time”
Because tomorrow brings another storm
We try and try and try, we give it our all.

#poem #life #school #work #homework #pantoum