The wheels of thought go round and round -
a tap-dance into heaven!
Clack, clackety clack!
The whirring in my brain becomes
a tap-dance into heaven,
for my dream is driven by steam!
The whirring in my brain becomes
a train of chugging thought
for my dream is driven by steam!
My mind's
a train of chugging thought
when all of a sudden - it hits a tunnel.
My mind's
going blankety-blank
when, all of a sudden, it hits a tunnel
where my heart skip-hops and stops
going blankety-blank.
I've arrived in tap-dance heaven
where my heart skip-hops and stops.
Dear angel! When you dance with me,
I've arrived in tap-dance heaven!
Clack, clackety clack!
Dear angel! When you dance with me...
the wheels of thought ...go ...round ...and ...round.
Hmmm!
You lucky devil!
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Author Notes
A bit of an experiment here! How much can you squeeze a Pantoum out of shape before it stops being a Pantoum and how tightly can you constrain free verse within a given form before it stops being free verse? Is this a Pantoum or is is free verse - or is it just a poem that's tripped over its feet and gone off the rails?
The traditional Pantoum is patterned so that the second and fourth lines of each quatrain are repeated to become the first and third lines of the next one. The first and third lines of the first quatrain are repeated as the second and fourth lines of the last one, to close the loop. Whilst my poem follows the pattern, it has exercised its right, as free verse, not to be arranged in quatrains.
Also, traditional Pantoums generally have a regular rhythm, and a rhyme scheme of ABAB in each quatrain. Again, being free verse, mine doesn't.
If you are interested in such discussions, perhaps you should enrol in Pantygynt's next Free Verse course!
Image credit: Fred Astaire in "Daddy Long Legs", photo Creative Commons
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