An Advent pantoum (form of poetry)
Today in my writing group video chat, I was introduced to the pantoum, a form of poetry I’d never heard of previously. With just 5 minutes of free writing, I created this, an evocative Advent poem:
- Here we felt accepted; here we felt affirmed; here we felt known
- The sky was dark
- We waited in the car, shivering, while we waited for Mom
- And off we went to church, us three kids waiting
- The sky was dark
- Saying the liturgy and singing the carols, all the time waiting
- And off we went to church, us three kids waiting
- And so we listened to the priest and we shuffled in our seats, waiting
- Saying the liturgy and singing the carols, all the time waiting
- We waited in the car, shivering, while we waited for Mom
- And so we listened to the priest and we shuffled in our seats, waiting
- Here we felt accepted; here we felt affirmed; here we felt known
Hello! 
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Wasn’t sure if I should say where I got the great idea from! You rock!
So for the uninitiated among us – what is a pantotum? What are the rules etc?
Sorry – not very helpful, huh? Exercise is to write for 5 minutes stream-of-consciousness on a topic – for us this morning, a Christmas memory. After the five minutes, underline phrases that stand out. Cut them down to 6 lines and number them A through F, ordering them in importance (or in story form). Then lay out your poem like this:
First stanza: A, B, C, D
Second stanza: B, D, E, F
Third stanza: E, C, F, A
Ta da! Do share yours if you write one Jennie!