Angele Toomey Poetry

A pantoum is a Malaysian form of poetry. It consists of any number of alternating quatrains with lines of any length and meter. Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza becomes lines 1 and 3 of the succeeding stanza. The lines are repeated in their entirety so that the stanza are interlocked with those above and below. The last stanza contains lines 1 and 3 of the first stanza in reverse order. It has been described as a villanelle-like obsessive and tedious form.

Source:  University of Northern Iowa. (2001). "Craft of Poetry" course. website: Quatrain (uni.edu)


Rites of passage

I loved and wept in equal measure

Too young to know the difference

Walking in a world I was never too sure

Not knowing how to read their inference.


Too young to know the difference

Caught in the tides of fashion

Not knowing how to read their inference

Living with new found passion.


Caught in the tides of fashion

In the thrall of big city lights

Living with new passion

Short days and long nights


In the thrall of big city lights

Walking in a world I was never sure

Short days and long nights

I loved and wept in equal measure.