The h2g2 Poem
Created | Updated Aug 28, 2003
A pantoum is a verse form from Indonesia, presumably imported to Europe by the French. It has repeated lines and an optional rhyme scheme. A palimpsest is a manuscript in which old writing has been rubbed out to make way for new. I admit that one reason I chose the form was that I couldn't resist the weak pun in the title.
This poem is about memories and echoes, so I wanted to use a verse form with repeated lines. It is also full of the landscape I live in. I can point you out each place mentioned. However, it sounds more melancholy than I feel about this. I find a sense of strength, continuity and groundedness in living where my roots are. But a pantoum is a demanding form and, although this is a poem I enjoyed writing, it does not quite catch what I feel. You should see the lines that got away.
The Pantoum of the Palimpsest
I drive around with second sight
these places I have lived for years;
and jet-skis race where birds took flight
in a double landscape stacked in layers.
These places I have lived for years
where past and present inter-flow
in a double landscape stacked in layers
we make our mark and come and go.
Where past and present inter-flow
new bridges leap from ridge to ridge.
We make our mark and come and go
and buy a new house with an ancient hedge.
New bridges leap from ridge to ridge.
They sell cream teas at the sacred site
and buy a new house with an ancient hedge.
I drive around with second sight.
