I Love Haikus! Forum Hello I Just Joined!

 Thought I'd drop in and say hello!  I love haikus and senryus, though not too sure what a tanka is!  Hope I'll find out here.

Hi Frances and welcome!  While the others are playing Hot Potato -- great idea!!! -- I'll chime in with what a tanka is.  A tanka is a haiku with 2 additional lines of 7 syllables each.  So you have the haiku -- up to 17 syllables (doesn't have to be the full 17) -- in its usual form, and then the 2 additional lines are usually indented just a bit.  They have something to do with the haiku but can take a (more or less) different tack.

Frequently the tanka was/is completed by someone other than the haikuist.  For instance, this haiku (translation adds a syllable) is from Basho (imo the greatest haiku poet ever, from 17th century):

Ah me!  I am one/who spends his little breakfast .../morning-glory gazing.

 

And I'll add:

Bumblebees have joined me,

now we are all sated.

 

That's sort of what's going on with the HOt Potato Haikus!

Hope this helps, Frances :-).