blossoms fall,
tumbling in a stiff breeze;
on the ground
they form a purple shadow,
ignoring the sunlight
Spring Blossom Tanka
Tiger Riding for Beginners
Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre
blossoms fall,
tumbling in a stiff breeze;
on the ground
they form a purple shadow,
ignoring the sunlight
Tiger Riding for Beginners 
Whats the rules behind tanka. I’ve seen many do it but I’ve never asked what it is. Seems similar to haiku. Reading yours makes me want to try one.
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A tanka is related to the haiku. One just adds two extra long lines. In Japanese, the five lines are of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. (Sometimes, in English this is varied because English can have much longer syllables.) Also, like a haiku, it should be observational, without judgement / analysis. (As opposed to senryu / kyoka, which have the same form as haiku / tanka, respectively, but are less “Zen” — devoid of judgment. Seasonal references are common but are not a given as much as they were originally.
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Ima have to try one. I have a few haiku and one really cool hybrid haiku but never tried 57577
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