Rocketman Pantoum by Jade Sylvan tied for runner-up in the 2012 Science Fiction Poetry
Association (SFPA) Contest in the long form category. First of all, for
the benefit of those who do not know what a pantoum is (I had to look it up),
according to Poets.org:
The modern pantoum is a poem of
any length, composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines
of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last
line of a pantoum is often the same as the first.
Obviously, composing a proper pantoum is a daunting
undertaking, and Ms. Sylvan deserves kudos for tackling the form alone. She
deserves further kudos for doing so with such skill and finesse. I
particularly enjoyed her clever use of homophones.
The story within the poem sings of what it might be
like when our sun finally dies and the remnant of humanity is left to travel
through space in search of another sun and another planet. Instead of
dwelling on the apocalyptic, Ms. Sylvan chooses to explore the human element of
this pending disaster--a refreshing approach to the subject matter.
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