Seriously, it does seem as if it would be fun to write a bunch of renga. They are an open form, meaning there's no prescribed length to them, just a way they are written. If they sound a lot like tanka, it's no accident, and also the reason I'm talking about them just after finishing discussing tanka.

What it is:A renga is a collaboration between ( Read more... )

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As I noted yesterday, a tanka is a short poem, usually rendered in English in 5 lines of varying syllable lengths, often 5-7-5-7-7.

Side note: The tanka is sometimes known as a waka, or an uta (short form of yamato-uta), which are terms historically meaning "Japanese poetry" (meaning poetry written in Japanese, as opposed to Chinese), but which ( Read more... )

Today, a brief introduction to the tanka, which I have in the past referred to as a haiku pulling a trailer ( Read more... )

Since Sunday, I've been putting up posts about haiku, examining the components of what an actual haiku should contain - three lines, short, a little longer, short (not necessarily 5-7-5, although feel free to use that construct); a kigo, or seasonal word; a "turn" or some sort of surprising insight or revelation; a poem based in nature ( Read more... )

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All actual haiku contain something called a kigo, which is a seasonal indicator. They are used in large part for their economy - haiku are short poems with few words, so a kigo can telegraph a lot about the poem's setting for the reader.

A kigo can be as simple and obvious as spring, summer, fall, or winter. Or the name of a particular month, ( Read more... )