About Lincoln College

I Offer Few Words
Joe Renegar

I offer few words out loud,
my feelings aren’t those that can be expressed through speech.
This paper offers me security and sound,
It tells of my world without being breeched.

My feelings aren’t those that can be expressed through speech,
I keep them buried within, locked away.
They tell of my world without being breeched,
I’m careful not to let them stray.

I keep them buried within, locked away,
for my eyes only, so I offer no free peeks.
I’m careful not to let them stray,
I gain new pains each and every week.

For my eyes only, I offer no free peeks.
I’ve become accustomed to the scars
and new pains each and every week.
These are my personal wars.

I’ve become accustomed to the scars.
This paper offers me security and sound.
These are my personal wars.
I offer few words out loud.

This poem is a pantoum. It has repeating lines that wind down the stanzas
in a pattern, ultimately coming full circle to lines from the first stanza and ending
with the same line with which it began. Joe discovered he was good at formal
verse in Ms. Kirk’s ENG 200: Creative Writing. Often these “fixed” forms are perfect
for containing overpowering feeling and expressing the inexpressible.

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