#a turn is also called a volta—commonly found in sonnets

[kvothes]

for the fourth day of 🌷national poetry month🌷 here is a form called a tanka:

these are two tankas by japanese poet tada chimako, both titled “a spray of water.” similar to a haiku, the first three lines follow a 5-7-5 syllable count; however, a tanka then has two additional lines, each with 7 syllables.

(the syllable count isn’t exact in these two poems, bc they were translated from the japanese)

two more things: a tanka is supposed to be one sentence spread across these five lines. second, it needs to have a turn in it—a moment when the poem shifts focus or brings in a new idea. in this first tanka here, you can see that the poem starts by simply describing water in a kettle, but then broadens to be about anger and abandonment.

#a turn is also called a volta—commonly found in sonnets #if anyone wanted to write a tanka in my inbox i would not be mad….. #national poetry month #mine