The Old Coot: What the heck is a tanka?

06 April 2007

I am the tanka.
The attention of others
Is unnerving, and
Since I try not to draw it,
I'm left alone. Which is good.

(If you were not a Tanka you would be Heroic Couplets.)

What Poetry Form Are You?

Anonymous said...: Tanka is the name of an ancient form of Japanese poetry.

Tanka are 31-syllable poems that have been the most popular form of poetry in Japan for at least 1300 years. As a form of poetry, tanka is older than haiku, and tanka poems evoke a moment or mark an occasion with concision and musicality.

http://www.americantanka.com/about.html; 9/4/07 18:49

The Old Coot