The following poetry personifies Grief. It was declared the Winner of the Penmuse December event.
It is in the form of a Pantoum. The rules of the Pantoum are as follows:
The lines 2 and 4 of each stanza become lines 1 and 3 of the next stanza. These carry-over lines are called repetons.
The twist in this poem: lines 1 and 3 of the first stanza become lines 2 and 4 of the last stanza, but reversed (3 becomes 2 and 1 becomes 4).
The rhyming scheme becomes: ABAB, BCBC, CDCD, DEDE, EFEF, and so on. There is no specific syllable count.
The stanzas are interlocked.
The repetons are the lines that carry the story from one stanza to another (It all has to tell a story. It has to go fluently, as pantoum is supposed to sound like a beautiful music in the air.
Here’s the poem-
He, who came silent, didn’t bother to greet,
Just sat sombre on a now vacant chair,
Was someone I thought I’d never meet
A noxious intruder with an intimidating glare.
Just sat sombre on a now vacant chair,
Thence stood up and strode through my home,
A noxious intruder with an intimidating glare
He held me captive but was free to roam.
Thence stood up and strode through my home,
That surreptitious thief who stole my sleep,
He held me captive but was free to roam.
I ne’er needed him but was mine to keep.
That surreptitious thief who stole my sleep,
Was someone I thought I’d never meet,
I ne’er needed him but was mine to keep,
He, who came silent, didn’t bother to greet.