Tanka

A five-line Japanese style that uses strong images and employs poetic devices, such as metaphor and personification, that haiku avoids. There is no rhyme or meter, per se, but the first and third lines are shorter than the second, fourth, and fifth. In English, a pattern of accented syllables (two-three-two-three-three) is used to emulate the rhythms of Japanese. These are usually mood pieces, which use imagery to evoke the mood in the reader.


the porch swing rocks
a cradle for our youth
we sit till dawn
remembering the days
when silence didn't hold
these reluctant goodbyes