Mara mentioned villanelles at Spoken Word last weekend. Here’s a form I like: the pantoum.
It is a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. This pattern continues until the final stanza, which differs in the repeating pattern.
AUTUMN SACRIFICE
Holy ghost mist
Walks on water
In morning’s sacred hour.
Autumn hovers above,
Walks on water
In reflections of the sky.
Autumn hovers above,
Mild, then meek, in wind.
In reflections of the sky
Leaves deny death.
Mild, then meek, in wind,
Branches scratch testaments.
Leaves deny death,
But frosty breath withers.
Branches scratch testaments.
Sun draws blood,
But frosty breath withers
Holy ghost mist.
Sun draws blood
In morning’s sacred hour.
“Autumn Sacrifice.” Poetry. 2006 Explorations, MECC, Third Place.
