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This is my playground for poetry written for children with ideas and inspiration for writing your own poems. Come on in. Sit for a spell, have a cup of words to swirl around and make your own cup of poetry. I'm so glad you are here. I hope you'll find the Kingdom of Poetry a fun place to be.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tanka

walking in the creek
when I step on a sand bar
yellow swallowtails
tickle the backs of my knees
fly off into the pine trees


     This poem is a tanka, a Japanese form from the 7 century.  It is like a haiku, written in the present tense with a 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern.  Tanka were love poems written by women of the Japanese  court and were some of the earliest poems published by women who wrote the poems in beautiful calligraphy and left them on the pillows of their loved ones.

1 comment:

  1. Joy,

    I enjoyed learning the history behind a tanka poem. What a lovely tradition--to leave a poem on a loved one's pillow.

    Linda A.

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