Tanka Poetry – Light and Dark

Photo Credit

Tanka Poetry – Light and Dark

small rays of bright light

reflects a kaleidoscope

dark and light colours

reminding me of schooldays

hurrying home before darkness

Copyright © 2019 Elsie Hagley

Tanka Poetry – consists of five units, usually with the following pattern of  –  5-7-5-7-7 which is syllables.

The first three lines (5/7/5) are the upper phase. This upper stage is where you create an image in your reader’s mind.

The last two lines (7/7) of a Tanka poem are called the lower phase.  The final two lines should express the poet’s ideas about the image that was created in the three lines above.