Pantoum Sudoku

lillian

I sit to gather thoughts and write.
Like quickening ripples in windswept pool
ideas hurtle, thrash and roil in spite.
My mind consumed, your muse too cruel.

Like quickening ripples in windswept pool
your face appears in waves to take control.
My mind consumed. Your muse too cruel,
like fists that pummel a dying soul.

Your face appears in waves. To take control,
eyes wide, I gather strength. My voice attacks
like fists that pummel a dying soul.
You shall not rule as I defy all impacts.

Eyes wide, I gather strength. My voice attacks
ideas. Hurtle, thrash and roil in spite.
You shall not rule. As I defy all impacts,
I sit to gather thoughts and write.

Gina hosts MTB Thursday at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets. Today we are exploring a particular form of poetry called a pantoum. It’s made up of quatrains (4 line stanzas). BUT, they have to be in this pattern:

A (has to end rhyme with C)
B (has to end rhyme with D)
C
D

B (Exact same line as B in first stanza; and has to end rhyme with D)
E (has to end rhyme with F)
D (Exact same line as D in first stanza)
F

E (Exact same line as E in second stanza)
G (has to rhyme with H)
F (Exact same line as F in second stanza)
H

G (Exact same line as G in third stanza)
C (Exact same line as C in first stanza)
H (Exact same line as H in third stanza)
A (Exact same line as A in first stanza)

Hah! Did you follow that?  And now you know why I titlee this post Pantoum Sudoku!

40 thoughts on “Pantoum Sudoku”

  1. Glenn Buttkus February 28, 2019 / 6:49 pm

    I must say this is an excellent example how a pantoum can be written; love some poetics about writing. The classic form is impeccable, yet does not override the message. Read aloud it sparks to life as well.

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    • lillian March 1, 2019 / 11:06 am

      Thank you, Glenn! I always struggle and write and rewrite and … yep, I end up reading aloud a lot when dealing with forms. This one I had to check and double check so many times. A sudoku for sure! Glad you enjoyed! Your comment made my day!

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  4. Gina March 1, 2019 / 12:07 am

    excellent Lillian! you win this game and triumph over form and rhyme, a fine example of how the pantoum can be contorted yet kept to a seamless flow of thought, it does not derail. your punctuation is creative and addictive when read out loud!

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    • lillian March 1, 2019 / 11:09 am

      Thank you so much, Gina. Trust me…it was indeed a sudoku for me. I read and reread and read aloud and tinkered. It’s an amazing form to work with! Thanks for the prompt and the easy to follow diagrammatic instructions. I literally wrote those letters in my notebook, as I’ve written them in my note after the photo, to be sure I was doing it! Glad you enjoyed!

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      • Gina March 1, 2019 / 5:19 pm

        i did the same so not to mess it up, we both love free verse and it can seem stifling but on completion reads so effortless. the skill with words is in yours Lillian, well done.

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  5. Mary (tqhousecat) March 1, 2019 / 8:04 am

    Oh the battles we have with the muse! I love this! You should frame it and place it in front of you as you sit to write.

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    • lillian March 1, 2019 / 11:09 am

      Ah…like framing a completed-correctly sudoku! 🙂

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  6. robtkistner March 1, 2019 / 1:26 pm

    This was excellent Lillian! You and I had similar takes on this pantoum thing… 🙂

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    • lillian March 1, 2019 / 1:52 pm

      Thank you, Rob. So glad you enjoyed!

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  7. merrildsmith March 1, 2019 / 1:36 pm

    Nicely done, Lillian. This made me chuckle. I think we’ve all battled the muse. 🙂
    I also have made lists of letters or numbers for poetic forms–though I’d never (for myself) call it Sudoku because that’s numbers, and we don’t get along. 🙂

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:33 pm

      Thank you! And you’re welcome. The chart really helped me. 🙂

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  11. Sherry Blue Sky March 1, 2019 / 8:49 pm

    Interesting where our minds take us when we pick up our pens…….I smiled at the Pantoum Saduko! LOL.

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:33 pm

      So many of the forms are poetic soduko to me. I’m a free verse kind of gal 🙂

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  12. memadtwo March 2, 2019 / 12:17 pm

    It seems complicated at first, but after awhile it all makes sense and forms a circle. You’ve nailed the truth and struggle of beginning any new form I think. (K)

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  13. sarahsouthwest March 2, 2019 / 5:45 pm

    I am awestruck by your enjambment. It looks effortless, like you just sprinkled pixie dust over the page, but I bet there was a LOT of hard work went into this. It sparkles.

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:35 pm

      Thank you, Sarah. Confession — I just learned the meaning of enjambment a few weeks ago…came in handy in this form! 🙂

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:35 pm

      Thank you! so glad you you enjoyed.

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  15. areadingwriter March 4, 2019 / 10:02 am

    oh the war we fight to keep the pen from inking! it is so interesting that we write about writing in our pantoum! 🙂 Love this, Lill! We won!

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:36 pm

      Ah yes…..sometimes the muse deserts us….or is taken over by an evil muse – which is the case in this poem.

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  16. navasolanature March 5, 2019 / 12:03 pm

    I love the struggle with trying to write and the muse. Yes, indeed a sudoku and I had to do a lot of double takes as I had tried to follow the form with the rhyme scheme and think I put the wrong letters in! A challenging form but I love the repetitions which just flow but are edgy and you make it look effortless! You certainly tackle this with a hurtle, thrash and roil!

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:37 pm

      Oh my yes….I hurtled and thrashed a lot to get this to turn out! Glad you enjoyed 🙂

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      • navasolanature March 7, 2019 / 4:30 pm

        I’m still struggling on mine after Gina suggested I needed the rhyme scheme too! Today I feel thrashed!

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  17. kim881 March 5, 2019 / 1:47 pm

    My comment isn’t showing for some reason, Lill. I read your sudoku Pantoum and everything kind of fell into place, so I’ve used yours as a template to improve mine! Thank you!

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:38 pm

      Oh my….well thank you, Kim. I just had to make the chart (which I’ve put in the comments after the poem) and then it worked out a bit easier….definitely not easily, but a bit easier! 🙂

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  18. Manja Mexi Movie March 6, 2019 / 10:25 am

    I like it how you played with punctuation. Mine just burst out in more or less one piece. Also, I wasn’t aware of all the necessary rhymes. Ah well, next time.

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    • lillian March 7, 2019 / 1:39 pm

      Ah….in regard to the rhyming…remember that we were told there is an imperfect pantoum. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an imperfect sonnet form? The iambic pentameter and accents and non accents always does me in with the sonnet. Perhaps you and I should create an Imperfect Sonnet form? 🙂

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      • Manja Mexi Movie March 7, 2019 / 3:22 pm

        Hihi, I like the idea! Something like sonnet but completely different? 😉 However, I have written a few sonnets and it’s exactly the rigid form that draws me to it…

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