On The Same Page has the pleasure of introducing Joy Tucker, a poet extraodinaire, from Los Angeles. She has four tanka poems, which are delivered below. She gives a concise description of what "Tanka" is.
Tanka: Briefly
Tanka is a form of Japanese poetry that’s gaining popularity with American writers. Tanka is over 1,300 years old and is a predecessor of Haiku. A Tanka poem has five lines with an odd-number syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 in the respective lines. A Tanka usually breaks into two parts; the first two or three lines often depict the world of nature. The last two lines convey a personal emotion or feeling. The third line can be a "pivot" -- a word or words that form the link between the nature image and the author’s emotional expression. The "pivot" can be read with either the first two or last two lines of the tanka.
Those writing tanka in Enlish may choose to model the Japanese form exactly, or not - it’s a matter of personal taste. For example, some may place the last 7-7 syllable lines at the front of the poem.
Here are four tanka that I’ve written; I hope that they inspire you to write your own tanka! - Joy Tucker, Los Angeles, CA
red-veined Autumn leaf
clinging to a thread of twig
in final, trembling fushion
your fingers hold mine
then release -- I fall to Winter
sun rays parting clouds
sprouts pierce soil to catch Spring light
on eager tiptoes
she stretches up to receive
her first kiss from his warm lips
salmon ascend cold
rivers past bears, rapids, nets
risking all to spawn
two married lovers whisper
plans for their secret meeting
fossil butterfly
enshrined in yellow amber
caught in its midflight
baby shoe, never outgrown
lies bronzed on our mantelpiece