Pantoum (A poetry form)

This time, instead of choosing a poet's style, I chose a strict form: the pantoum. A pantoum is a poem in which every line is used twice. The second and fourth line of every quatrain become the first and third of the next. In the last quatrain, the third line of the first quatrain becomes the second line, and the first line of the poem is repeated as the last. It sounds complicated, but it is really quite simple once you read an example or two. Some pantoums have an abab rhyme scheme, but most that I have read are unrhymed, and I was unable to enforce a rhyme scheme in mine. However, I did decide to use tetrameter (predominantly iambic) in order to give the lines more structure.

I found one pantoum that I really like that I'll share with you. It was the best of all the ones I read. If you're interested, look them up.

Stillbirth
Laure Anne Bosselaar

On a platform, I heard someone call out your name:
No, Laetitia, no.
It wasn’t my train—the doors were closing,
but I rushed in, searching for your face.

But no Laetitia. No.
No one in that car could have been you,
but I rushed in, searching for your face:
no longer an infant. A woman now, blond, thirty-two.

No one in that car could have been you.
Laetitia-Marie was the name I had chosen.
No longer an infant. A woman now, blond, thirty-two:
I sometimes go months without remembering you.

Laetitia-Marie was the name I had chosen:
I was told not to look. Not to get attached—
I sometimes go months without remembering you.
Some griefs bless us that way, not asking much space.

I was told not to look. Not to get attached.
It wasn’t my train—the doors were closing.
Some griefs bless us that way, not asking much space.
On a platform, I heard someone calling your name.

Pantoum for a lost Love

We were not meant to stay in love
You know I deeply care for you.
I knew we had to break it off.
Something drove us two apart

You know I deeply care for you
We spent our time together 'till
Something drove us two apart:
I realize now 'twas jealousy.

We spent our time together 'till
You met her. I assumed too much.
I realize now 'twas jealousy
That drove me to be so unkind.

You met her. I assumed too much,
But you should have thought more of me.
That drove me to be so unkind,
That I weep now, rememb'ring it

But you should have thought more of me.
You acted so unfeelingly,
That I weep now, rememb'ring it.
Your thoughtlessness caused my rash deeds

You acted so unfeelingly
After I told you how I felt.
Your thoughtlessness caused my rash deeds;
The fault belongs to both of us.

After I told you how I felt,
I knew we had to break it off.
The fault belongs to both of us--
We were not meant to stay in love.

I'm thinking of doing Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carrol, a sonnet, or a villanelle next. I will probably end up doing a sonnet or Carrol, because I've already struggled with the villanelle form and Dickinson's style and have not come up with anything I liked. We'll see...