Our First Challenge

So, not too long after my first post, I decided to try out a form of poetry that I've never attempted before (which, to be fair, doesn't exactly narrow the field).  I deliberated between starting us off with my poem-in-progress or letting you get started on your own attempts first, so that you aren't tempted to get locked into my content or rhymes or anything and have a free and blank slate upon which to begin your poem.

Now, it is worth noting that I typically shy away from formal poetic structures, mainly because I have been known to lose focus of the point of my poem in my efforts to hold to form. And, for me personally, it usually just isn't worth compromising content for form. Granted, I think it is a testament to the skill of those poets that do not have to make such a compromise, I'm just not that talented, yet.

That being said, I came across a form that, when used to its potential can actually add a great deal to the meaning or experience of the poem, so I thought this would be a good one to practice with!  The form is known as a Pantoum, and it works something like this:

This is line 1
Line 2 becomes the next line 1
This is line 3
Line 4 becomes the next line 3

Line 2 becomes the next line 1
This process continues throughout the poem
Line 4 becomes the next line 3
It creates a really neat flow

This process continues throughout the poem
Until you get to the last stanza
It creates a really neat flow
And you can make it rhyme if you want(anza)

Until you get to the last stanza
This is line 3
And you can make it rhyme if you want(anza)
This is line 1

In case I lost you there, the poem is made up of quatrains (stanzas made of 4 lines each) and you carry over lines 2 and 4 of each stanza and make them lines 1 and 3 of the next stanza until the last stanza, which uses Line 3 from the first stanza as line 2 and uses line 1 as the last line.  This creates a sort of loop over the course of the poem that can be manipulated to a few different ends, all of which can contribute a neat feel to the experience of the poem as a whole.
The poem that introduced me to pantoums was Kevin Cantwell's "One of Those Russian Novels," in which he begins on a drive down a gravel road in Florida, and moves his perspective into a passing house, touches on a somber and dramatic scene within, such as one might read of in a popular Russian novel (hence the title), and in the last stanza is pulled from the house and back into the car, as if the whole scene happened in the few seconds during which the car passed the house.

Maybe I was impressed by the fluidity with which the perspective of the poem slid to and from the house and the skill he demonstrated in writing it that way, or the way the circular motion of the poem almost roped off the image in the house like it was some dramatic scene frozen in a time capsule. I don't know, all I know is I thought it was seriously cool.
And I want to try it.
So you should try it with me!

To add an extra challenge, I decided to try rhyming mine as well, but don't feel like you have to. Cantwell's doesn't rhyme, and it's fantastic! So I won't judge you if you don't either.

I want to give you a few days to atleast get started before I pollute your mind with my own attempts at this, so I will wait a few days before I post about my work on my poem. Let me know when you've started, if you're stuck, or if you want me to wait just 1 more day before I post so you can try starting on your own.
I leave you with a poem I thought fitting for our maiden voyage as novice-poets.

P.S. Check out the Poetry180 site, it offers free access to lots of good poetry, all selected by Billy Collins, who happens to be one of my favorites!