Tanka Tuesday

In an effort to be cool like Remshot, I give you Tanka Tuesday.

The podcast for Poetry Magazine, during its recent March 31 cast, is quoted as saying, “…that’s a little haiku, or I think they call them tankas in Japanese.  Actually they are both words from the Japanese language.  It didn’t take me much research to find out that the poetic form of the haiku(5-7-5) is derived from a more ancient form known as the tanka(5-7-5-7-7).  I’ll probably post both under the same heading.

I like tanka because it alludes to the fact that the “Native Americans” migrated over through the Asian continents.  Much of my studies as a young teenager revolved around native American studies. My favorite tribe is the Lakota Sioux, who call bison tatanka. Interesting, similar people - similar language.

~ by houseofaaron on 8 April 2008.