#TANKATUESDAY #POETRY STARS | #Specificform: #Tanka #Prose

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars’ celebration. This week’s challenge was to write our poem as tanka prose. Learning how to write specific forms, like tanka prose, stretches what we keep in our creative toolbox.

Happy Labor Day weekend here in the United States. This is usually our last hurrah for summer here in Michigan. The maple trees are turning, and there is a bit of a chill in the air. I hope everyone stayed safe! We’re going to BBQ today, so I’m looking forward to that.

But let’s talk tanka… tanka prose!

We typically write tanka prose in the 5-7-5-7-7 or a s/l/s/l/l five-line syllabic structure. Tanka prose should contain a title. There is one basic requirement in writing tanka prose: one paragraph, and one tanka.

There are two basic forms in classic tanka prose: Preface (explanation) and the Poem Tale (episodic narration). Tanka prose does not rhyme.

Preface (explanation): Is where the prose explains the basic information in the narrowest sense. It is a factual summary of the experience. Usually, you write one prose paragraph and one tanka.

Poem Tale (episodic narration): The poem tale/episodic narration is a more formal structure where you share a more personal experience through your prose. In general, the tanka poem is always the center on which the narrative episode (prose) comes from. Write your tanka first. With this type of tanka prose, the prose often shares a beginning, middle, and an end, as if it were a short story. You can have one or more tanka within the prose.

On my author blog, you can see an example of an episodic narration tanka prose poem: HERE.

Many thanks to everyone who joined in! I’m thrilled with your tanka prose this week. Don’t be afraid of this form. If you love to craft tanka poems, then add a few lines of prose to go along with it! Make the two pieces work together to get your message across in unusual ways!

1.	Padre	5.	Cheryl	9.	Colleen Chesebro
2.	Reena Saxena	6.	willowdot21	10.	theindieshe
3.	Jules	7.	Donna Matthews	11.	Sally Cronin
4.	The Versesmith	8.	Jude	12. 13.	Ruth Klein My Italian Letters

Please take the time to visit the poets. Bravo to you for joining in and learning a new form. Everyone of these tanka prose poems is fabulous, in my estimation. Embrace this form and use it when your poetry needs to show more of your experience or to help you embed a message in your readers’ minds.

Jules and I are excited to share the cover of the First Edition of Word Weaving, a Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse. The Kindle copy will be available for preorder on September 1, 2021, for delivery on October 1st, 2021. PreOrder HERE.

The print edition will release October 1, 2021. The proceeds from this journal will go to fund a Poetry Contest on Word Craft: Prose & Poetry to be announced at a later date. ❤

Stay in touch! Follow Word Weaving on Twitter @word_weaving.

See you tomorrow for the new challenge!