Listen to Nancy Spence’s reading along with Oboe Instrumentalist Natalie Wren Murdoch
Though he was a far-off land, not there,
muted in the distance,
if you ask, I’ll say yes, I know he cared,
thoughts of him remain insistent.
Muted in the distance,
through rumor I felt cherished,
thoughts of him remain insistent,
an entire lifetime I’ve carried.
Through rumor I felt cherished,
feelings between us in reminiscence,
an entire lifetime I’ve carried
bonds, weighty in their persistence.
Feelings between us in reminiscence,
swarmed in the galaxy of his blue eyes,
bonds, weighty in their persistence,
the surest, securest of ties.
Swarmed in the galaxy of his blue eyes,
if you ask, I’ll say yes, I know he cared,
the surest, securest of ties,
though he was a far-off land, not there.
Jean Cassidy – October, 2009 for you emerging poets, this was my first attempt at writing a pantoum –
The pantoum is a poetic form derived from the pantun, a Malay verse form: specifically from the pantun berkait, a series of interwoven quatrains. (Wikipedia)
Photo: Dad, Tom, and me in Watervliet Michigan Summer, 1947
