Tanka

[Bearly]

faint sweet melody

dreams are held then slip away

wind chimes

soft whisper in lover's ear

passions of nature revealed

enjoy!

Edited June 30, 2006 by Bearly

[Maelstrom5]

faint sweet melody

dreams are held then slip away

wind chimes

soft whisper in lover's ear

passions of nature revealed

Ooooh, like this one! Nice work!

[Bearly]

shaped by nature's wind

leaves kissed by the setting sun

lone tree grown through rock

flowers will bear it's sweet fruit

a true master of patience

I used 57577 format as explained in previous post

Edited August 27, 2006 by Bearly

[Bearly]

Here are some interesting facts about tanka, its more spicy than you may think.

It's from this link http://www.ahapoetry.com/giftank.htm

From tanka's long history - over 1300 years recorded in Japan - the most famous use of the poetry form was as secret messages between lovers.

Arriving home in the morning, after having dallied with a lover all night, it became the custom of well-mannered persons of the Imperial Court to write an immediate thank-you note for the pleasures of the hospitality. Stylized into a convenient five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 onji [sound syllables much shorter than those in English], the little poem expressing one's feelings were sent either in a special paper container, written on a fan, or knotted to a branch or stem of a single blossom. This was delivered to the lover by personal messenger who then was given something to drink along with his chance to flirt with the household staff. During this interval a responding tanka was to be written in reply which he would return to his master.

It was not an easy task for the writer, who had probably been either awake or engaged in strenuous activities all night, to write a verse that related, in some manner, to the previous note, that expressed (carefully) one's feelings, and which titillated enough to cause the sender to want to return again that evening. Added to this dilemma was the need to get the giggling servants back to work and the personal messenger on his way with a note so written that he wouldn't know exactly what was what but with the references and illusory comments the beloved would understand and appreciate.

In a society that accepted the fact that marriage vows were financial and social leaving affairs to trigger adrenalin and the arts, the chore of writing those morning-after notes was raised to an exercise in poetic genius. A woman who, after being wakened from a well-deserved sleep, could cope with brush, solid ink, and words, was assured of more lovers (and hence, more financial support) than the contortionist on the mattress.

So treasured became tanka - and so eager were men and women to improve their own works - that contests were regularly held for the purpose of writing, judging, and reading tanka. So necessary was a body of esteemed works to which one could refer, and be inspired, and borrow from when all else failed, that the emperors decreed the collection of anthologies beginning around 700 AD

[Yona]

Is dredging up ancient forum posts allowed? If not I offer my deepest apologies and what I apparently thought was a Tanka but instead is something I seem to have invented:

 

Prospective return

Memories dredged from the past

Overjoyed

Familiar faces abound

Mingling with those yet unknown