Poetry Friday: Tanka

Here are the poems I wrote for this week’s Monday Poetry Stretch--Tanka at the Miss Rumphius Effect. My first attempt follows the traditional form of tanka and has thirty-one syllables. Each of the next two tankas has twenty-one syllables.

Three Tanka

by Elaine Magliaro

5/7/5/7/7

Now that winter has
left, an eager sun brightly
blares its yellow song…
waking tree buds and flowers.
Spring enters, waves its green wand.


3/5/3/5/5

Newly hatched,
caterpillars feast
on milkweed…
munch leafy lunches
until their sides split.


Crocuses
pierce the softening
soil, push up
purple periscopes,
search for spring’s warm face.

You can read the rest of the Poetry Stretch Results here.

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BOOK RECOMMENDATION

CRICKET NEVER DOES:
A COLLECTION OF HAIKU AND TANKA
Written by Myra Cohn Livingston
McElderry, 1997

Unfortunately, this poetry book is now out of print. Look for it in the library—or get yourself a used copy…if you can find one. Cricket Never Does is a collection of seasonal haiku and tanka written by one of America’s most respected children’s poets and anthologists. The book includes five fine examples of tanka written by a master poet.

At Blue Rose Girls, I have Anthem for a Doomed Youth by Wilfrid Owen.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Cuentesitos this week.