Exceptional A pantoum about senile dementia Pantoum Collection : Lost for Words by tfawcus

My tongue now stumbles over words They disassemble in my brain They fluster like a flock of birds Unravel what I've said again They disassemble in my brain My mind is blank, the words dispersed Unravel what I've said again I grasp for meanings now reversed My mind is blank, the words dispersed Like ancient leaves that fall from trees I grasp for meanings now reversed They slip and swirl and gently tease Like ancient leaves that fall from trees My thoughts are lost. They're not my own They slip and swirl and gently tease My mind's a shell I have outgrown My thoughts are lost. They're not my own They fluster like a flock of birds My mind's a shell I have outgrown My tongue now stumbles over words Recognized Earned A Seal Of Quality Author Notes The pantoum, with its shifts in meaning and its repetitions seemed like the perfect form in which to write about the confused state of mind that comes with senile dementia. It has repeating lines throughout. The 2nd and 4th lines of each stanza are repeated as the 1st and 3rd lines of the next. Additionally, to complete the circularity, the 3rd and 1st lines of the poem become, respectively, the 2nd and 4th lines of the last stanza. This is the last in my current series of pantoums. The time has come to lock horns with the villanelle! It could be a lengthy struggle with not much to show for it for a while! © Copyright 2024. tfawcus All rights reserved. tfawcus has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.