Pantoum

Learn how to write a pantoum! My personal favorite. Comment/message me with any questions or review requests, I'm happy to help.

A pantoum follows a specific pattern that makes it quite difficult, but also quite impressive, to write. It is not a traditional type of poem, but it is my personal favorite. I love how the lines take on different meanings as the poem progresses. To really make your poem impressive, try to make the first and last line mean something different, even when the words are the same.

Here's how a pantoum works:

For a 20 line pantoum, the pattern is as follows.

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Line 4

Line 5 (Same as line 2)

Line 6

Line 7 (Same as line 4)

Line 8

Line 9 (Same as line 6)

Line 10

Line 11 (Same as line 8)

Line 12

Line 13 (Same as line 10)

Line 14

Line 15 (Same as line 12)

Line 16

Line 17 (Same as line 14)

Line 18 (Same as line 3)

Line 19 (Same as line 16)

Line 20 (Same as line 1)

Here is an example of one of my pantoums, it makes a lot more sense when you can actually see it.

Puddles

Puddles stain the ground,

As the sky cries tears of agony,

Hitting the surface,

Rain drops soak the earth.

As the sky cries tears of agony,

A woman fights the storm,

Rain drops soak the earth,

As she trudges on.

A woman fights the storm,

Oblivious to a bigger battle ahead,

As she trudges on,

Now dripping wet from head to toe.

Oblivious to a bigger battle ahead,

She is surprised to feel the bullet,

Now dripping wet from head to toe,

From the ocean of blood she lost.

She is surprised to feel the bullet,

Hitting the surface,

From the ocean of blood she lost,

Puddles stain the ground.

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