How to Write a Tanka Poem

There are two forms of Tanka poetry. There is the Japanese tanka where tanka means "short song". Japaense tanka poems have been written for over 1300 years.Then, there is the American tanka poem which has five lines that tells of a single moment with lots of emotion.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Word Processing Software
• Something to write about
• Pen
• Paper

Writing your own Tanka poem

1. Sit down and write. When you decide to write a Tanka poem, you can write it on word processing software or us a pen and paper.
2. Use 5 lines and 31 syllables. Whether you write a Japanese or American style tanka poem, it will need five lines looking like this: 5-7-5-7-7. The only difference in the writing style is that in Japan, the poets write their tanka poems in one straight line. In America, we divide our lines, looking like separate sentences. This is how we write our poems:57577
3. Be creative or serious. When writing a tanka poem, you can write your poems about love, compassion, nature and so on.If you write a tanka poem, it is best that you use a single theme throughout the poem. It is also good if two people read the poem. When two people read a tanka poem, one person reads the first line, the other person, the second line and so on until the poem has been read all the way through.
4. Start writing your tanka poem. Here is a current tanka poem I have written:Mommy’s Day Begins5 Hey, Mommy get up!7 Milk, oatmeal and bacon, please5 Mommy take a warm shower7 Mommy drinks her baba 7 Watch Hi-5 please Mommy
5. This is a fun poem to write. It may take more than a day to write what you want to say to others, or yourself.Take your time writing this style of poem and share it with others.

Tips & Warnings

• Follow these steps and your tanka poem will be written as it should be
• Be creative or express your feelings towards another person or event
• The poem has to be 5-7-5-7-7 and have 31 syllables, otherwise, it is not a tanka poem