Golden sands by human kind touched rainbow-flecked;
as blue-green sea foams white while grasping for the shore;
children squeal with joy at play, swim-wear bedecked
while Grandads, trousers rolled, in deck chairs quietly snore.
As blue-green sea foams white while grasping for the shore,
groups of teenagers compete at volleyball.
While grandads, trousers rolled, in deck chairs quietly snore,
gulls in search of food swoop down with strident call.
Groups of teenagers compete at volleyball,
and sandwiches unwrapped while drinks are shared around.
Gulls in search of food swoop down with strident call;
brass band plays on the promenade, a merry sound,
and sandwiches unwrapped while drinks are shared around.
Girls in damp bikinis struggle with their towels;
brass band plays on the promenade, a merry sound.
toddler, ice cream dropped, sounds off with mournful howls.
Girls in damp bikinis struggle with their towels;
flowing tide invests sand castle's battlement.
Toddler, ice cream dropped, sounds off with mournful howls;
young lovers arm in arm, intent on pleasure bent.
Flowing tide invests sand castle's battlement.
children squeal with joy at play swim-wear bedecked;
young lovers arm in arm, intent on pleasure bent;
golden sands by human kind touched rainbow-flecked;
|
Author Notes
The pantoum form originated in Malaya. In English writing the iambic pentameter is frequently used but no set rythm is laid down. Alternate rhyme is used throughout, but the second line of any verse becomes the first line of the next, while its rhyming line, the fourth, becomes the third next time. In each new verse, two new rhyming lines are introduced as the second and fourth lines, except for the last verse which harks back to the third line of the first verse for its second line and the first line of the whole poem is repeated as the last line, giving circularity to the whole thing. There is no set number of verses.
I first came across the form describing the bustle of a medieval village fair and thought then how appropriate the form was for describing crowd scenes as the eye, while scanning the scene keeps being drawn back to something interesting it has seen already.
It appears that some people are confused by the term "Bank Holiday". This is the term, used throughout the UK, for what the rest of the world refers to as a "public holiday".
|
|
