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Today’s  challenge is to write a tanka. This, like the “American” cinquain, is a poem based on syllables, with the pattern being 5-7-5-7-7. They work best when those final two 7-syllable lines contain a sort of turn or surprise that the first three lines might not wholly anticipate. You can string a bunch of them together to make a multi-stanza poem, or just write one!


Gazing in your eyes,

memories softly playing,

gently I whisper,

you have the key to my heart,

alas… I have changed the locks.


Tanka 15.04.2013

by Alexandra Carr-Malcolm