TankaTuesday #1

Good day to everyone. Another attempt to write tanka while participating in Colleen’s #TankaTuesday challenge where the rules are to to write in any of the 24 syllabic forms of Japanese poetry using a kigo or season word as an inspiration. While there are 24 seasons in Japan, we are allowed to use season words as per our region.

I hope I have understood the rules πŸ™‚

I belong to India and the monsoon season is still lingering around, although I believe it has begun its, albeit belated, withdrawal.

a monsoon shower –

hanging on the long clothesline

sparkling diamonds

thieves break-in to find my cache

of dripping garments

So monsoon is my kigo. While the tanka is not exactly 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, I believe a total of 31 syllables or less is also acceptable. Am I right? Did this work? I also wasnt sure if I was supposed to include the image. Would love to know your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Thanks for visiting and reading. Have a super day.

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Dahlia

Email me at mysilverstreaks@gmail.com or tweet me @mysilverstreaks

29 thoughts on “TankaTuesday #1”

  3. I’m never sure about the rules of tanka either! As far as the visual aspect goes, I think it would be better written as a poem, simply in five lines. The separate blocks I thought at first were links to posts. If you were to add just one extra two-syllable word (adjective/adverb) to the final line, I think you’d have the right syllable count per line.

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  5. Welcome. I’m so glad you jumped into the challenge. Yes! This tanka is wonderful! I love the first three lines, and then you talk about the thieves breaking in to discover your wet clothes hanging on the line. It’s totally unexpected! I love how you captured the monsoon. I created a sheet you can download and print to add your kigo words. You should add β€œmonsoon” to this list for autumn weather. If you need help, let me know. 🧑

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  11. Pingback: Recap: 24 Seasons Poetry Challenge No. 1 – Tanka Tuesday

      1. You are very welcome!

        BTW, please feel free to call me ‘David’. That’s my name. The word ‘ben’ simply means ‘son of’ in Hebrew, and my father’s name was ‘Alexander’. I created my blog in his memory, you see.

        I know it’s confusing because is a popular name in English. I’m sorry for the confusion!

        Much love,
        David

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