TANKA

Tanka: (also called uta or waka) is an unrhymed thirty-one-syllable poem, traditionally written in a single unbroken line in five-line, 5/7/5/7/7 syllable count form. The tanka employs a turn, known as a pivotal image, which marks the transition from the examination of an image to the examination of the personal response. This turn is located within the third line,connecting the upper poem, with the lower poem.

Fragile silver lace

daintily spans the corner

beneath the stair step

like strings of my heart trembling

when I see you cry

A young October

on an enchanting hayride

his hand takes hers

as it had some years before

beginning life together