Hear the music as “A Pantoum for Africa” is my second poem accepted in the prestigious AVBOB Poetry Competition.
Read it and tell me if you hear the rhythm of African drumming, the hum of the uhadi bow, the clicking sounds of the Xhosa language, and the African dusty winds on your face.
You can read “A Pantoum for Africa” on the official AVBOB poetry competition site.
What is a Pantoum?
A pantoum is a poem composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza become as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first.
A pantoum is a poetic form derived from the pantun, a Malay verse form.
What is an uhadi bow?
An Uhadi musical bow is a traditional Southern African Xhosa musical instrument consisting of a bow attached to a resonator and played by percussion. The length of the string bow ranges from 115 to 130 centimeters. Sotho and Zulu music also use similar bows.
A snippet from the acceptance email 🙂
The AVBOB acceptance email came in late last night. Therefore, my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their time and effort go to the team of submission editors and to Douglas Reid Skinner, South African writer, editor, translator and poet, as well as English editor, judge and translator for the AVBOB Poetry Competition, part of The AVBOB Poetry Project.
A Pantoum for Africa is my second poem accepted in this competition. My first one is Love for Africa.
Wow! You are amazing. Once again, congrats! I’m a greenhorn when it comes to African culture, so let me thank you for the new things I learned today.
Thank you, Sweetie 🙂 It means a lot!!
African culture is so vast, Jo. I also learned something new while writing this poem.
Wonderful
Thank you so much, Danny 🙂
BRAVO Patricia! CONGRATULATIONS girlfriend. The last time I wrote a pantoum was in my last book of poems in 2013. This is a strategic poetry composition that you did so phenomenally, and I enjoyed reading it so much. You deserve this honor my dear! Congrats again!
Thank you so very, very much dear Kym!
Yes, a pantoum is challenging, but oh so rewarding to write 🙂 It brings out the beauty in a language.
So maybe it is time you wrote anther one! 🙂
You are a dear heart Patricia. I applaud you my dear friend. I have a chapter and section of poems in my book dubbed “ArchiPoetry” to challenge people to write beyond a rhyme, free verse or haiku that we generally see. Congrats once again my friend.
Thank you, dear Kym.
Congratulations, Patricia on another job well done!
Kind thanks, Dan 🙂