What is a tanka and why am I writing them?

Tanka written in the sky - The Mollusc Dimension

Tanka written in the sky - The Mollusc Dimension

In my second blog post, I talked about how I find poetry and lyrics-writing really helpful for coping with stress. I recently made the switch from free verse to exploring form. Tanka is the first traditional form I have experimented with.

Having had a brief exploration of the form of the tanka, and even writing some myself, I recommend tankas to:


a) people starting out writing poetry
b) people who already write poetry and are interested in trying a traditional form



In my previous post, I talked about how I value poetry-writing greatly as a mental health coping mechanism. Even if I’m not feeling grumpy or miserable, I frequently write lyrics and poems while doing something tedious. So my some of my tankas are about cleaning:

Procrastination
means the house gets cleaned at least,
wall to wall fervour,
avoiding work seems to be
surprisingly hygienic.

It has surprised me too, this switch from images and music to the world of words. From ink, the squid’s offerings move from drawings to words. But actually for some years, I have found creatively using words the quickest way to feel more grounded.

Tanka is short enough to write one in a few minutes. Its simplicity helps me feel calm and focused. There is a connection to the beautiful minimal tradition of haiku, yet there’s a bit more space to explore an emotion / scene / story.

TANKA FORM:

31 syllables in total


5-7-5-7-7 syllabic count

(Poets don’t always stick to the syllabic count)

I enjoy having a bit more space than haiku and it’s still short enough to write one in a few minutes. 

A tanka (短歌, "short poem") is a Japanese classical poetic form.

“Tanka's economy and suitability for emotional expression made it ideal for intimate communication; lovers would often, after an evening spent together (often clandestinely), dash off a tanka to give to the other the next morning as a gift of gratitude.” (Source)

The form captures a moment in time. The topics of tanka are said to be gratitude, love and self-reflection. They can be more conversational than haiku. 

Unlike the courtly lovers of ancient Japan, I live with my partner and don’t have to run away at dawn. However, my tankas have been written during the COVID-19 quarantine in the UK (and much of the world), and there is an especially intense air of isolation and longing for freedom in the air. As I think of friends/ strangers who are single or otherwise away from loved ones, I used the tanka to explore a sense of yearning which has some connection with the romantic themes in some of the older tankas.

Chasing you will not
cure me of this loneliness
in the deep-jawed mist
I lose in the trail of loss
my bright wish for adventure.

I find generalisations like “X is an X of the time” annoying, but I am about to make one of these statements:
Tanka feels like an ideal poem for quarantine time, because its subject matter has often been about separation and absence. Its brevity connects to impermanence of all things while stealing a little time to make poetry can be calming in the midst of the daily grind.

As a challenge, I’ve been trying hard to stick to the 5-7-5-7-7 structure, and next it would be interesting to bend the rules. In some of my older poems, I used a 6-5-4-4 form.

And after writing 10 of these I feel more ready for sonnets..


PS. Before tankas, I also experimented with 6-5-4-4 syllabic forms. I uploaded a lot of poems to my Wordpress site and only recently started posting poetry on my website. A fear-filled wish to be seen propels me. It’s a big step for me to unite the various strands of my creative forms!

 
writing, poetryThe Mollusc Dimensiontanka