I am gathering with Bonny and all the poetry lovers to share some poetry with you all today. (Make sure you stop by and see what we all have shared…and we’d love it even more if you joined us and shared a poem!)
Is it just me… or is June racing along? In my mind, it is still last week… and I have plenty of time to contemplate poetry for today.
Thankfully, Pádraig Ó Tuama came to my rescue with this introduction to the pantoum this week. That sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole on the internet and led me to the poem I am sharing today.
Pantoum’s are delightful and you can learn a bit more about them here and here. (And I highly recommend you listen to Pádraig read you the pantoum from this Monday’s Poetry Unbound podcast!)
The pantoum I am sharing this week is by A.E. Stallings for all us insomniacs out there!
Another Lullaby for Insomniacs
by A.E. Stallings
Sleep, she will not linger:
She turns her moon-cold shoulder.
With no rings on her finger,
You cannot hope to hold her.
She turns her moon-cold shoulder
And tosses off the cover.
You cannot hope to hold her:
She has another lover.
She tosses off the cover
And lays the darkness bare.
She has another lover.
Her heart is otherwhere.
She lays the darkness bare.
You slowly realize
Her heart is otherwhere.
There’s a distance in her eyes.
You slowly realize
That she will never linger,
With distance in her eyes
And no ring on her finger.
Another Lullaby for Insomniacs by A.E. Stallings appeared in the April 2004 issue of Poetry Magazine.
And that is all I have for this week… see you all back here on Monday!
PERFECT! I have not heard of Pantoums previously and I’m off to learn more about them. Last night, before bed, I finished “Nine Horses” by Billy Collins – what a glorious collection of poems.
I love posts that are both enjoyable and where I also learn something, and this is one of the best! I hadn’t heard of pantoums before, but it is the perfect form for writing about insomnia. I hope you get some restful sleep and thank you for sharing this pantoum!
I am a pantoum newbie as well, but they are so much fun!
Call me another newbie to the pantoum – thanks for sharing!
I have never heard of a pantoum, so thank you for not only sharing this wonderful poem but teaching me something new!
Just lovely! I had not heard of pantoums either — until I heard about them on Poetry Unbound. Thanks so much for sharing this one — and for leading us all down the pantoum rabbit hole! (A delightful place to get lost in . . . ) XO
One of the best rabbit holes ever. Lovely poem!!
Another pantoum discoverer. What a delightful poem.