Happy TANKA Tuesday everyone! Welcome to the TANKA CAFÉ. Are you ready to get groovy with your poetry? Then, you’re in the right place! Pull up a chair, order some coffee or tea and let’s write some TANKA poetry.

Grab a cup of Joe or a cup of tea and read what’s below…

SO, LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW TO CREATE THE TANKA POETRY FORM.

It’s worth taking a moment to check the best way to create a Tanka.

Tanka poems are based on syllable structure much the same way a Haiku is written in the 5/7/5 format.

The Tanka form is easy to create: 5/7/5/7/7 and is a Haiku with two extra lines, of 7 syllables each consisting of five separate lines.

What makes a Tanka different from a Haiku is that the first three lines (5/7/5) are the upper phase. This upper stage is where you create an image in your reader’s mind.

The last two lines (7/7) of a Tanka poem are called the lower phase. Now here is where it gets interesting. The lower stage, the final two lines, should express the poet’s ideas about the image that was created in the three lines above.

Visit Jean Emrich at tankaonline.com Quick Start Guide
CLICK THE LINK TO SEE THE EXAMPLES and to learn how to write a Tanka poem

Here are some great sites that will help you write your Tanka.

thesaurus.com

For Synonyms and Antonyms. When your word has too many syllables, find one that works.

howmanysyllables.com

Find out how many syllables each word has. I use this site for all my Haiku and Tanka poems. Click on the “Poetry Workshop” tab to create your Tanka. Here are the rules for the Tanka form: howmanysyllables.com

I will publish the Tanka Tuesday prompt at 12: 03 A.M. Mountain Standard Time (Denver
Time). That should give everyone time to see the prompt from around the world.

WRITE YOUR TANKA POEM ON YOUR BLOG as a post.

How Long Do You Have and Your Deadline: You have a week to complete the Challenge with a deadline of Monday at 12:00 P.M. (Noon)
Denver time, U. S. A. This will give me a chance to add the links from everyone’s Tanka post from the previous week, on the new prompt I send out on Tuesday. I urge everyone to visit the blogs and comment on everyone’s Tanka poem.

The rules are simple.

I will give you two words that you need to use (in some form) in the writing of your Tanka.

The two words can be used in any way you would like to use them. Words have different definitions, and you can use the definitions you like. Feel free to use synonyms for the words.

LINK YOUR BLOG POST TO MINE WITH A PINGBACK. To do a Pingback: Copy the URL (the HTTP:// address of my post) for the current week’s Challenge and paste it into your post. You may also place a copy of your URL of your Tanka Post in the comments of the current week’s Challenge post.

Because of the time difference between where you are, and I am, you might not think your link is there. I manually approve all links. People participating in the challenge may visit you and comment or “like” your post. I also need at least a Pingback or a link in the comments section to know you took part and to include you in the Weekly Review section of the new prompt on Tuesday.

BE CREATIVE. Use your photos and create “Visual Tanka’s” if you wish, although it is not necessary. Use whatever program you want to make your images.

As time permits, I will visit your blog, comment, and TWEET your TANKA

If you add these hashtags to your post your poetry may be viewed more often:

#Tanka Tuesday, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines

If you haven’t set up your blog to share to Twitter, you should. It is an excellent way to meet other poets and share your work.

You may copy the badge I have created to go with the Tanka Tuesday Challenge Post and place it in your post:

HERE’S WHO JOINED US LAST WEEK FOR OUR 24th CHALLENGE USING THE WORDS – FIRE & RAIN: (Please make sure to visit the other participants. We learn from each other. <3)

Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka #Poetry Challenge # 24 – FIRE & RAIN/Two on a Rant

Fire & Rain – Playing with words

Tanka: Fire & Rain – Jane Dougherty Writes

Soul on Fire – Reena Saxena

When Nature Muse (Tanka) – Thoughts of Words

“FIRE & RAIN” – Mick E Talbot Poems

Promise | Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo

Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Poetry Challenge #24 Fire and Rain | Annette Rochelle Aben

Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka #Poetry Challenge # 24 – “FIRE & RAIN” | K Y R O S M A G I C A

Untouched by the Rain (a tanka) | Darkness of His Dreams

Fire & Rain | thoughts and entanglements

Tanka //Poetry Challenge// Rain & Fire – சுழல்கள்/Suzhalgal

Fireflies | The Syllabub Sea

Coming of Spring: Tanka | Yesterday and today: Merril’s historical musings

When the Cold Wind Blows | method two madness

Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Poetry Challenge #24 Fire & Rain/Deepikas Ramblings

A #Colorado Spring – A #Tanka – Colleen Chesebro ~ Fairy Whisperer

This week’s Poet of the Week is Method Two Madness (Kerfe & Nina). Excellent imagery in her words and make sure and play the song while you are reading her Tanka.

Read the fourth line! The description is excellent.

If you see fire, if
fire is spilled, smothered by rain,
stolen from the sun–

are bridges burned, rivers run
dry? A cold flaming. Unquenched.

James Taylor released his album “Sweet Baby James” in 1970, the year I graduated from high school. It was a constant in my life for the next few years and remains a touchstone for remembering that time.

When Colleen titled her tanka challenge this week “Fire and Rain,” James Taylor’s song immediately began to play in my head. Almost all the songs on “Sweet Baby James” talk about the sun, yet there’s a touch of melancholy in every word. Colleen’s prompt photo, too, seems to reflect these contradictory feelings. Endings, beginnings: fire and rain. My tanka is an imagined conversation with the album and the song.

Here are the two words for this week’s challenge: CLOUDS & SPRING

(any forms of the words AND don’t forget to use synonyms)

There are many different meanings to these words. Have fun and experiment. If the prompt words don’t Inspire you… write a Tanka based on the photo BELOW:

Image credit: Pixabay.com

TANKA TUESDAY! JOIN IN AND GET YOUR POETRY ON!

Enter to Win a Signed Copy of The Heart Stone Chronicles: The Swamp Fairy

Contest open to the U.S, Canada, and in the U.K

There are three ways to win: Sign up for Colleen’s Monthly Fairy Whispers Newsletter and/or follow Colleen Chesebro – Fairy Whisperer on Facebook, and/or follow @ColleenChesebro on Twitter. Once you have completed these steps, you are entered into the contest.

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day this contest runs from March 12, 2017, through March 18, 2017.

This is a random drawing using the Gleam Competitions App. On March 19, 2017, I will announce the winner on my blog: colleenchesebro.com.

The winner must notify me by email at colleenchesebro3@gmail.com and provide me with their address NLT March 22, 2017, so that I can mail their signed copy to them. Please allow two weeks after the end of this contest for mailing time.