A poem appearing in this month's issue of American Tanka:
Tan-ka is a short-form poem of Japanese origin. Traditionally it is written in five lines with a syllabic progression of 5-7-5-7-7. Think of it as a haiku pulling a 14-syllable trailer.
Contemporary English versions, like contemporary English haiku, usually don't follow the traditional syllable count, which seems to be more suited for the Japanese than English language.
Besides being longer than haiku, tanka are also a more informal verse form; they permit the poet to be more directly emotional, idiosyncratic, and autobiographical than haiku. Consequently, tanka were considered a less rigorously disciplined form better suited to women and lovers than "real" poetry which was best left to real, usually male, poets.
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