Man Oh Man

A Pantoum Poem

Man Oh Man

You intend to experience life.

You end up enforcing labor.

You boost your status by taking a wife.

You get to quietly become her lord and savior.

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You end up enforcing labor.

The community gets erased.

You get to quietly become her lord and savior.

The nuclear family gives work a face.

—

The community gets erased.

You are left to fill the hole alone.

The nuclear family gives work a face.

You are told the addiction is yours to own.

—

You are left to fill the hole alone.

You cannot express the lack you feel.

You are told the addiction is yours to own.

Your feelings are not allowed to be real.

—

You cannot express the lack you feel.

You boost your status by taking a wife.

Your feelings are not allowed to be real.

You intend to experience life.

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Read here IF you want details about the pantoum poem rhyming scheme. 👇🏾

While the pantoum poem can be much longer than four stanzas, here is the rhyming scheme for a 4-stanza version:

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First Stanza

Lines 1 and 3 rhyme.

Lines 2 and 4 rhyme.

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Second Stanza

Line 2 (from stanza above) is the first line. Line 4 (from the stanza above) is the third line.

The second and fourth lines are new lines that rhyme.

—

Third Stanza

Line 2 (from stanza above) is the first line. Line 4 (from the stanza above) is the third line.

The second and fourth lines are new lines that rhyme.

—

Fourth Stanza

Line 2 (from stanza above) is the first line. Line 4 (from the stanza above) is the third line.

Lines 3 and 1 from the first stanza are the second and fourth lines.

—

This poem has five stanzas. The same rules apply as in a four-stanza poem.

—

If you think in numbers, numerically, the rhyme scheme is:

1,2,3,4

2,5,4,6

5,7,6,8

7,3,8,1