[A] Phantom [Disaster] of the Pantoum

BRUCE: Living on the edge it's almost real

BRUCE: you can depend on me

BRUCE: In impossible situations

BRUCE: I'm lying with my head on the phone

TOGETHER: You can depend on me

BILL: to replenish the blood supply.

TOGETHER: I'm lying with my head on the phone

BILL: talking to the suppliers in Russian.

TOGETHER: To replenish the blood supply,

BRUCE: you must open the carotid, while

TOGETHER: talking to the suppliers in Russian.

BRUCE: This is how we save the workers!

TOGETHER: You must open the carotid, while

BILL: you hold the victim firmly in your arms

TOGETHER: this is how we save the workers!

BILL: I dropped my dictionary in the drink.

TOGETHER: You hold the victim firmly in your arms

BRUCE: As you breathe for them

TOGETHER: I dropped my dictionary in the drink

BRUCE: As I Fumbled for keys on a bitter Moscow night

TOGETHER: As you breathe for them

BILL: Pay yourself with money from their wallet

TOGETHER: As I Fumbled for keys on a bitter Moscow night

BILL: A black market agent gave my cigarette a light

TOGETHER: Pay yourself with money from their wallet,

BRUCE: I remembered too late the caviar.

TOGETHER: A black market agent gave my cigarette a light.

BRUCE: We talked about the merits of Swedish vodka.

TOGETHER: I remembered too late the caviar.

BILL: I cut my thumb on the jagged edge of the can

TOGETHER: We talked about the merits of Swedish vodka

BILL: Smoking a fat Cuban into the Russian night

TOGETHER: I cut my thumb on the jagged edge of the can

BRUCE: A pickled lutefisk swam into the warm Gulf

TOGETHER: Smoking a fat Cuban into the Russian night

BRUCE: The sun rose red on the horizon.

TOGETHER: A pickled lutefisk swam into the warm Gulf

BILL: At home in the briny sea.

TOGETHER: The sun rose red on the horizon,

BILL: Eclipsing an empire of night.

---Composed duet style by Bruce V. Bracken & William James early in 2011 for a duet slam.

    And that's right we used song lyrics as prompt lines. And I believe this was my very first

    pantoum. If it wasn't for Bruce, I would never have gotten involved with form poetry.