When did my world become so small?
Playing with pantoum-ing
If you’d like to hear how the pacing of these words flows in my body, enjoy the audio included above.
I yelled at the man driving toward me
I shamed myself with regret
I didn’t want to go to the doctor
I didn’t want to feel anxiety in my chest
.
I shamed myself with regret
the birds were singing, I wish those blossoms weren’t so soggy
I didn’t want to feel anxiety in my chest
I could smell the air and see the ground
.
the birds were singing, I wish those blossoms weren’t so soggy
I’m no longer stuck inside myself
I could smell the air and see the ground
other people, they live here too
.
I’m no longer stuck inside myself
I didn’t want to go to the doctor
other people, they live here too
I yelled at the man driving toward me
.
Last month, I had the opportunity to go to a poetry retreat. I’ve never formally written poetry and am playing with poetry forms for the first time. This is my first pantoum structure poem based on things that I noticed during the week leading up to the retreat. At first I thought it felt random and didn’t flow, but then when I saw the order of repeated lines fall together, especially toward the end, I felt like it came together beautifully.
