I find myself rejoicing and free
The power of the pantoum to create poetry & community
I find myself rejoicing and free
every morning a new guest The moments when two people smile and their hearts join in The geese turn into the light again delight in a mother’s rebelliousness The moments when two people smile and their hearts join in Beauty begins with silence delight in a mother’s rebelliousness A windswept elemental place, demanding a response Beauty begins with silence You may be alone but you are one with the substance of the place A windswept elemental place, demanding a response remembering my inner strength You may be alone but you are one with the substance of the place A permission slip to be fully and authentically myself. remembering my inner strength every morning a new guest
We created this together last Wednesday’s Write Together. We each bought a piece of writing we love and wrote about its meaning to us. We then offered up lines to contribute to the collaborative poem above. Not something anyone had to wrote alone and not dependent on level of writing experience. Some of us are poets, others of us might rarely put pen to paper. I’ve had the privilege of weaving collaborative poems with many and diverse groups – some participants professional writers, others partially literate. Each with a love for words that gave birth to a poem unique, woven from that day’s voices combined.
Expertise is not necessary for a meaningful experience, just held space that feels safe to share authentic feelings and believe that your individual and collective voice matters. Genuine connections emerge.
A brief history of Pantun
Pantoum is a poetic form inspired by the pantun, a traditional Malay oral poetry form dating back to at least the 15th century. Originally created as ‘sastera rakyat’ - literature of the masses, pantun was woven into daily life for sharing wisdom, emotions, and connection.
The Western ‘pantoum’ adapted from the ‘pantun berkait’ (linked pantun), but traditional pantun had a different structure: the first two lines (sampiran) set context, while the final two lines (isi) carry the main message. They were meant to be interactive, often improvised in conversation.
We’re borrowing the interconnected structure to weave our voices together, while acknowledging this beautiful form comes from the rich oral tradition of the Malay archipelago.
In writing this, I explored the traditional pantun in more detail:
The Malay Heritage Foundation – traditional Pantun both in their original Malay and in translation: https://mhf.org.sg/poetry/, bahasainterpreter.com and Pantun Baba Chan: The Art and Beauty of Traditional Baba Malay Poetry by Chan. It includes bilingual texts with online audio recordings in both English and Baba Malay.
I now look forward to exploring pantun in its more traditional form too. Maybe you'll join us at our next session.
Wednesday Write Together You are warmly welcome to join us. Find out more here, or come straight to the weekly Zoom:
Join the session: https://us06web.zoom.us/s/89578861993?pwd=dXNHcOSjSB87o246QR69Pfctp23N4A.1 Passcode: 252085
Contributors: You are welcome to include your name and Substack links below, as well as information about the texts which inspired you.
