For Tim
In my vision you emerge from a fire,
a forest incandescent around you.
The flames purify your truth to essence
revealing there your regeneration.
A forest incandescent around you
transforms to shaded havens for new thought,
revealing your new regeneration
with its shining cleansed spiritual youth.
You grant a shaded haven of new thought
that buoys the ones you need to love and teach.
They’re swayed by your cleansed spiritual youth
but you remain aloof, beyond their reach.
They wait, the ones you need to love and teach,
for you to inform and give them license.
They yearn to reunite with you now they’ve
seen flames purify your truth to essence.
The time has come to bestow your license,
allow truth to imbue their spirits too.
That which revealed your regeneration
now radiates through them in its brilliance.
© Gay Reiser Cannon * 6.19.2014* All Rights Reserved
Beachanny's Texas 
Impressed, very impressed. I’ve never yet succeeded in writing a pantoum, so I bow to your skill here.
Incredible use of repetition, and though I’ve never even heard of a pantoum, one senses the classic form both rocking the prompt, & communicating a modern POV; wonderful piece from someone who has “difficulty writing” sometimes; smile.
yeah, I’ve never heard of pantoum… bravo for this write, Gay… the repetition is subtle, yet powerful
This has the ring of classic poetry, Gay. And I bow to your expertise with the pantoum.
I had heard the name before but had never read a pantoum. Great job, Gay!
You have captured the purifying essence of fire in this. I agree with Mary that is suggests the greatness of classical poetry. As much as we fear fire here in the drought-stricken West, there is that aspect of regeneration. What saddens me is the loss of wildlife habitat and nature’s beauty–that’s why I believe in judicious thinning of dead trees.
Gorgeous!
I admire the lovely pantoum Gay ~ Very tricky to do but the refraining verses come naturally ~
wow gay….nice form….smiles…and a nice trib to them as well…and what sounds to be the impact he made on the lives of those around him….as he walked the purifying fire and came out the otherside…tested truth…
The pantoum is one of my fave forms and I love what you did with it here. Great work.
This left me hushed.
wow gay… i never dared to tackle a pantoum… i think it’s such a tricky form but i really love what you’ve done here and how the form underlines the theme just perfectly
Well wrought! My pantoums always turn into doggerel, which yours certainly is not.
I like the revealing of this regeneration in so many ways…lovely form & content…
Love how your final reflection of regeneration radiating brilliant through me – is the visual gift bag I received here from your writing today.
Simply wonderful. Now I shall have to look up the pantoum too!
I’m thinking we should cover it again in an upcoming MTB/FFA – I’m Going To Like It Here from Flower Drug Song is a kind of pantoum that rhymes..but they don’t have to rhyme. The lines should be the same length, and there is a pattern to the repetitions:
Stanza 1 A B C D
Stanza 2 B E D F
Stanza 3 E G F H
Stanza 4 G I (or A or C) H J (or A or C) [1]
I did that and then needed a fifth stanza so I winged it with three fresh lines instead of using the first line as it wasn’t what I wanted to say.
Revealing regeneration ..indeed..what a beautiful poem you have written here..with nice form and style..
I did a pantoum once… but yours is just brilliant.. the repetitions are subtly yet strong.. yes this was really nice to read.
This is brilliant. You speak and breathe life into a fiery aura. Just a beautiful tribute.
You make form look absolutely effortless Gay–Beautifully done!
This is very elegant.
I’ve attempted pantoums before, but they always clunked. This is brilliant, wonderful, elegiac.
More hope within this than in an elegy. Have to read it a few times. Very mystical.