W3 Prompt #96: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Lorraine’s prompt guidelines

• Form (required): Pantoum
  • Number of stanzas: up to you
• Theme (required): Memories of childhood

Growing up

I grew up content, not a care in the world
A family of four never wanting for much
A big new white house never feeling unfurled
Creative endeavors, crafts and music and such

A family of four never wanting for much
Always feeling the safety of parental love
Creative endeavors, crafts and music and such
My mom made me clothes that fit like a glove

Always feeling the safety of parental love
Watching football on tv and baking some pies
My mom made me clothes that fit like a glove
I was the first one, in the morning to rise

Watching football on tv and baking some pies
My mom taught me so much to do and to make
I was the first one, in the morning to rise
Taught to always be real, not a liar or fake

My mom taught me so much to do and to make
And she loved me and made sure to teach me well
Taught to always be real, not a liar or fake
I could keep going on there is so much to tell.

And she loved me and made sure to teach me well
A big new white house never feeling unfurled
I could keep going on there is so much to tell.
I grew up content, not a care in the world

©2024 CBialczak

The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming ABAB in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme as BCBC, CDCD. The first line of the series recurs as the last line of the closing quatrain, and third line of the poem recurs as the second line of the closing quatrain, rhyming ZAZA.

The design:

Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4

Line 5 (repeat of line 2)
Line 6
Line 7 (repeat of line 4)
Line 8

Continue with as many stanzas as you wish, but the ending stanzathen repeats the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza (as its first and third lines), and also repeats the third line of the first stanza, as its second line, and the first line of the first stanza as its fourth. So the first line of the poem is also the last.

Last stanza:

Line 2 of previous stanza
Line 3 of first stanza
Line 4 of previous stanza
Line 1 of first stanza