Punk Pantoum 9.8

Thomas Jefferson once said, “…a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Politics often reflect a society due to the need for a government to, at least appear, to aqciest with the general public. Society is constantly shifting and changing. The Punk Movement embraced one of our founding father’s most famous quotes and proceeded to stage a mini-rebellion against the norm of the time.

 “The Punk Pantoum” by Pamela Stewart is a reflection of what caused people, especially younger ones, to turn to the Punk Movement.  The author uses the speaker to describe a generalized punk’s lifestyle and contempt for society, then compounds it with the style of chosen poem. THe poem is a realization of the Punk movement's true goal, to reverse the trend of society twoards self-gain and conformity.

One of the most striking images in the poem is that of a, “dismembered horse:/Rust-stained fetlock, gristle, bone and hoof”. This violent description touches three major components of this speaker’s life; his/her drug use, their upbringing and a tendency towards using everyday life as a representation of a greater evil in society.

A drug popular in the 70s era of Punks was heroin. The shift in America from marijuana to heroin being the most “popular” drug reflected a similarly disenfranchised youth, but with more of an edge as the 60s made way for the 70s. Horse was a street name for heroin and is very fitting in this description of a punk life.

The blending of heroin and a prim upper middleclass upbringing contrast well in this line. The butchered horse could equally represent the place from which the speaker came. “Bitch, let's be proud to live at Eutaw Place,” intones the speaker in line ten. Eutaw Place is a neighborhood in Baltimore known for being wealthy and primarily Jewish. One mention and we know the speaker is most likely at least middleclass, most likely even wealthier, and white. The town itself was home to the once famous Lexington Market. Markets are a place of trade and food was definitely sold. It would make sense for the occasional horse to be added to the pot.

The comparison of these to vastly different subjects, a dismembered horse and an affluent Jewish neighborhood, are meant to underline their hidden similarities. This grotesque self and capital obsession was barely hidden beneath the manners and money of the upper class, as viewed by many punks of the age.

The author chooses to accent this layering effect in her poem. She uses the Pantoum, a style of writing that repeats lines for emphasis. The continuation of one line to the next stanza is a reflection of how capitalism and self-value lead to a society that has lost what should be its values - individualism and creativity.

The author tempers this juxtaposition with a slight altering of repeated lines to better suit the stanza in which it is placed. “Remember how we met at the Flower Mart last Spring?” in stanza four transforms into “Remember how you burned your hair at the Flower Mart last May?” in stanza five. These modifications servers two purposes. Firstly, it helps provides greater clarity and continuity. The poem reads like a story, or perhaps a fable with it’s heavily laden moral tones, and most follow a general timeline. The second reason the author adjusted the lines is more ironic. It follows the idea of rebellion. The Pantoum has specific rules, but they were broken by altering the designated repeating lines. By fracturing the form, the author follows the described punks as they fracture the norm of society.