Mara mentioned villanelles at Spoken Word last weekend. Here's a form I like: the pantoum.

It is a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. This pattern continues until the final stanza, which differs in the repeating pattern.


AUTUMN SACRIFICE


Holy ghost mist
Walks on water
In morning’s sacred hour.
Autumn hovers above,


Walks on water
In reflections of the sky.
Autumn hovers above,
Mild, then meek, in wind.


In reflections of the sky
Leaves deny death.
Mild, then meek, in wind,
Branches scratch testaments.


Leaves deny death,
But frosty breath withers.
Branches scratch testaments.
Sun draws blood,


But frosty breath withers
Holy ghost mist.
Sun draws blood
In morning’s sacred hour.



“Autumn Sacrifice.” Poetry. 2006 Explorations, MECC, Third Place.

HUSBAND 
 

You were raw white sugar,

Sweeter than sweet.

Dissolved in my heat,

Thick and sticky,

Buttery rich and brown,

Caramel, melting down.

Now a watched pot:

Steady and slow,

Simmering steam,

Rising above the rim.

Ready to turn up the heat.

“Husband.”  Poetry.  2005 Explorations, MECC, First Place.

AUTUMN SACRIFICE

Holy ghost mist

Walks on water

In morning’s sacred hour.

Autumn hovers above,

Walks on water

In reflections of the sky.

Autumn hovers above,

Mild, then meek, in wind.

In reflections of the sky

Leaves deny death.

Mild, then meek, in wind,

Branches scratch testaments.

Leaves deny death,

But frosty breath withers.

Branches scratch testaments.

Sun draws blood,

But frosty breath withers

Holy ghost mist.

Sun draws blood

In morning’s sacred hour.

“Autumn Sacrifice.”  Poetry.  2006 Explorations, MECC, Third Place.