longing 4 my mother
her embrace so warm, gentle
her lap comforting
will i ever again have this
sweet unconditional love...
tanka 1
napowrimo day 5
© rochelle foles 2019
napowrimo day 5: “tanka 1”
tanka is an ancient japanese poetic form, popular long before haiku, that mimics the first three lines of tanka.
it’s structure is syllabic: 5,7,5,7,7, and doesn’t rhyme. traditionally it was written as one unbroken line, however americans prefer to write in 5 lines.
the first three lines traditionally pose a question or conflict that the last two lines answer. in this poem i’ve inverted that structure.
there, now you know more about tanka then you ever conceived you might!
