Welcome to Poetry Friday! I'm so happy to be hosting you here today. I normally round up old-school style, but I'm trying InLinkz today. We'll see how it goes.
I particularly love hosting on the last Friday of the month, when my poetry sisters and I write to a new prompt. This month's challenge was to write a pantoum that included an animal. Here is an introduction to the form from Poets.org.
The pantoum originated in Malaysia in the fifteenth-century as a short folk poem, typically made up of two rhyming couplets that were recited or sung. However, as the pantoum spread, and Western writers altered and adapted the form, the importance of rhyming and brevity diminished.
I was worried about the rhyme scheme, but letting go of this requirement made experimenting with this form easier. A pantoum is made up of stanzas of four lines where lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are repeated as lines 1 and 3 of the next stanza. In some versions, the final stanza uses the 3rd and 1st lines of the first stanza for lines 2 and 4. In this case, every line in the poem is used twice. In other versions, the final stanza uses only three repeating lines, with the first line of the poem repeated as the last line.
I'm still heartbroken over the loss of my sweet Cooper, who's been gone just under two weeks. My poem is for him.
Cooper's Pantoum
Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2024. All rights reserved.
You can find the poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at the links below.
Would you like to try the next challenge? In April we’re exploring the work of Rebecca Kai Dotlich and Georgia Heard’s Welcome to the Wonder House, and noodling through answers to what we consider to "unanswerable questions." What do ants sound like? How do stars sing? Let's WONDER as we wander through the natural world - and ask and answer those wonderings in whatever way which appeals to you. Are you in? Good! You have a month to craft your creation and share it on April 26th in a post and/or on social media with the tag #PoetryPals. We look forward to reading your poems!
Please join the Poetry Friday party by leaving your link below, and don't forget to leave a comment to let us know you're here. Happy poetry Friday, friends!
So sorry for your doggie Cooper, your poem feels very heartfelt and I hope it helps to ease some of your heartache. Thanks for hosting us this week Tricia.
ReplyDeleteThe pantoum form works so well with your sad topic-- the repetition makes sense, and the movement matches thoughts returning to a loved one from every direction. Well done, Tricia. Thanks for hosting.
ReplyDeleteTricia, like Tabatha said, I agree the repetition in your sad poem about Cooper is perfect. It made me able to be sad with you on the loss of your dear friend. Especially poignant is this line: "on morning walks alone" Very touching poem.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for your loss. Those furry loved ones truly leave a big space behind. The pantoum is beautifully poignant. The form really captures how grief can circle around and around, and the way different parts of it keep coming back. You chose the perfect first/last line.
ReplyDeleteTricia, once again I extend my condolences on the loss of Cooper. The repetition in your poem shares the grief you feel. May the memories of dear Cooper and this line, With all my heart I remember, bring you peace. Thank you for hosting today and penning Cooper's Pantoum.
ReplyDeleteTricia-- your poem is a heartbreaking and beautiful tribute to a beloved friend. I'm so sorry for your loss. "I quietly profess my love / on morning walks alone" in particular are lines that echo. Wishing you memories that heal.
ReplyDeleteYou show the never-ending love of our beloved pets so beautifully, Tricia. The line "I will not declare it" shows the ache of loss felt, made more so by 'morning walks alone'. I'm sorry for your goodbye! Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a lovely tribute to your sweet Cooper. The repeating lines work so well to highlight the continuous thread of grief. I'm so sorry for your loss. Thanks for hosting this week and for sharing the next challenge.
ReplyDelete"I take your favorite paths."
ReplyDeleteOh, Tricia. I am so sorry. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pantoum for a wonderful pup. I think he knows how lucky he has been and believe that one day, his spirit will romp beside you on those paths again.
Thank you for hosting. xo, a.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Tricia. Cooper is such a cutie. I lost my Smidgey (we had her 14 years) in January. Your pantoum encapsulates exactly what it is like to lose a beloved furry friend.
ReplyDelete"speaking it out loud makes it real" - The pain is real. Be gentle with yourself.
Such a heartfelt poem that is so relatable, Tricia. We lost our fur friend not long ago and I am right there with you walking the paths alone. Thanks for hosting and for your beautiful tribute to Cooper.
ReplyDeleteAww. This is so heartfelt and so beautifully written. I have only ever earned the love of a dog these past two years as we occasionally take care of a friend's now-14 year-old schnoodle. I know it's also only a matter of time with that beautiful one, and I shall visit your poem when that time comes. :) Thank you so much for hosting and sharing the beautiful pantoum and the cutest photo ever.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about Cooper. Your grief is so palpable in your poem -- beautifully written, so heartfelt and heartbreaking. Thanks for this tribute and for hosting this week.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting us, Tricia, and for sharing your heart-rending pantoum for Cooper. He was one of a kind and will surely live on in your heart.
ReplyDeleteOh heartbreak over Cooper! So sorry for the lonely walks.
ReplyDeleteOh, Tricia... I feel this so hard. Keeper is almost 12 and just that fact alone pre-breaks my heart. Thank you for sharing your Cooper grief with us. And thanks for hosting today, too. xo
ReplyDeleteA pantoum is the perfect vehicle for grief---the repetition, the bursts of emotion....it's all there. I know Cooper knew how much you loved him---and how much you will always love him.
ReplyDeleteTricia, I lost my dear Charlie in September and understand all too well the lonely walks and seeing other dogs. I think now after 6 months has passed, I am ready to think about getting another dog. I will be working in the butterfly garden this weekend where I placed Charlie's ashes. I'm sure a poem will come.
ReplyDeleteHugs and thoughts for those long Cooper-less walks, Tricia. "With all my heart I remember" -- I hope your heart continues to heal and grow bigger around the hole he left there.
ReplyDeleteOh sweet Cooper...such a profound question, Will I love another as I have loved you. Thank you. xo
ReplyDeleteOh, Tricia...I knew I would find a pantoum for Cooper here today, and it's nudged my missing of Jackie, who's been gone for 8 years. What a beautiful way to honor your sweet boy.
ReplyDeleteI can just see you on his favorite paths, cherishing the memories. I find I'm torn - I imagine there's no way you could ever love another the same, but the heart for our good boys and good girls is infinitely wide. I hope that the memories help.
ReplyDeleteI admire Pantoumers, Tricia. They are a challenge to embrace. In this instance you have made valuable use of the form to provide yourself with a cathartic moment. Our pets charm their way into our hearts. They acccept us without judgment. As a reader, I readily identify with your loss for I have felt that emotional loss too. Brave writing in every sense.
ReplyDeleteTricia, forgive my bad manners in taking so long to thank you for hosting and to acknowledge your poignant poem. The way that the form takes you again and again along Cooper's favorite paths, and the path of your sorrow, is comforting and meditative.
ReplyDelete