The Pantoum

Introduced to Western poets by Victor Hugo, the Pantoum is a repeating fixed form from Malaysia.
It is written in quatrains, in which the second and fourth lines of one quatrain become the
first and third lines of the succeeding quatrain. The Malaysian form often uses the opening stanza's
first and third lines as the second and fourth of the final stanza, thus completing the circular nature of
the pantoum. There is no fixed line length or topic.
Additionally the "pure" Malaysian Pantoum is structured so that lines one and two are independent
of lines three and four; they are written about entirely different subjects.
Contemporary Western usage is subject to a wide variety of variations in length and pattern.
 almost invariably omitting the ABAB rhyme scheme required of the true Malaysian form.
Currently the most common modern structural variation that I have found consists of
 four quatrains, unrhymed, following the traditional pattern, with the exception
 that in the final stanza, line 4 is identical to S1;L1.
 The Malaysian standard of independent subjects is usually ignored.
 Within the individual lines, additions and subtractions of punctuation are common,
 as are minor deviations in word structures such as adding and deleting suffixes,
 use of homophones, and similar techniques which provide flexibility for the poet
 while maintaining the structure of the form.

Walking Tour

Walking a land of white stones
I breathe the silence that became a nation.
Ghostly taps play the shape of leaves
when ordered ranks pass slowly in review

I breathe the silence that became a nation
where streets are washed with the liquid of despair
when ordered ranks pass slowly in review
marching to generals of promised oblivion.

Where streets are washed with the liquid of despair
amid homes too frail to vanquish the night.
Marching to generals of promised oblivion
thirty miles and a world away.

Amid homes too frail to vanquish the night
frightened squads rehearse their own demise.
Thirty miles and a world away
I walk a land of white stones.

© Deane P. Goodwin