# Making Clouds and Rain: Japanese Tanka Poetry.



## Lilsnowy

Tanka is a Japanese poetry form dating centuries before haiku. It was used as a form of 'thank you' notes between lovers who returned 'home' after their trysts. They would write to the one they left, lamenting over being seperated, or using poetic symbols to recall their love-making or feelings of love. The lover would write back using the same form. ​ 
The form in Japan uses five lines, of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. In America, you can follow the 5-7-5-7-7, format but fewer syllables are also acceptable. The flow is the thing. Nature is a common theme in tanka. Just look out your window and write. Love, despair, sex, children, dishonesty, school, illness, loneliness, a sky full of stars or clouds, just about anything.​ 
*A challenging point in tanka is the third line. It's called a pivot. It should work with the first two lines as one thought and with the last two as another, and all five should flow as one. ​ 
*Example of Tanka*
*To live is to break*
*by*
*Ueda Miyoji*​ 
To live is to break 
One's heart for the sake of love; 
A couple of doves, 
Beaks touching on their way, 
Are stepping out in the sun​ 
Hope you will all try it and post your poems here. Just write and see what happens. ​ 
Mine:​ 
Trembling legs cover
A rolling sun-warmed dune
So parched in the heat
My tongue finds swirling relief
Revived in your juicy mouth​


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## Lady K

I took a Japanese culture class early on in my college education and we learned about tanka poetry. I should see if I can dig the book up. I might give this a try if I can find some peaceful time. Thanks for the inspiration.


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## skycloud86

Here's my attempt

Beautiful tree
Sways gently with spring breezes
Nature is at peace
As pink blossom blooms alive
Birds return with peaceful songs


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## Little Chief

Wow! A week or so ago, I was drawn to this type of poetry, out of the blue. I wrote it down with my many lists of things to do and research. Again, I love this site. I'm a newbieeee. Diddo on the inspiratiion.

Little Chief


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## skycloud86

Wrote another one - 

Modern world rush hour
Information with chaos
People need to rest
World will not come to an end
Even if you take a nap


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## skycloud86

_Doodle_

Swervy small doodle
Abstract art on papers edge
There instead of words
Fill the edges with black ink
Create a world of scribbles


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## skycloud86

Frosted window pane
Snowflakes on the cold outside
Reflections in glass
Flames reflect in the window
From the fire that warms them all


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## Lilsnowy

Skycloud you make my day! You do a beautiful job with this and relate it to so much.

here's one:

Her sharp ears don't hear
But her mouth yells shut up
When you pull her string
She's one angry dolly
And I should know my own child


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## Ben

Skycloud, your mind just vomits creativity, doesn't it? :tongue:

I'll have to come back to this thread when I'm in a more inspired mood.


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## skycloud86

Lilsnowy said:


> Skycloud you make my day! You do a beautiful job with this and relate it to so much.


Thanks. Yours are very beautiful as well.

A couple more - 

Under the sunshine
Standing on the frozen peak
Conquered old mountain
Planting the flag of his land
Claiming the hill for his queen


Deadly bullets flew
The end of peace on this day
Fighting for nothing
The soldiers try to act cold
But inside they are sobbing


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## skycloud86

Ben said:


> Skycloud, your mind just vomits creativity, doesn't it? :tongue:


I think writing is certainly my biggest talent, so I hope that continues to happen.


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## skycloud86

You came to this world
You grew up learning of it
You know death will come
You know there will be an end 
You know it might not stop there


The INTP
Creative mindset alone
Procrastination
A Thinking not Feeling strength
This, the INTP self


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## Lilsnowy

Brown eyes, eyeliner
A statement without trying
She is so unique
Nothing like her mom until
She cries and her eyes go green


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## Lilsnowy

It's winter out there
And even colder in here
The heat has left me
Because you have left me love
Come wrap me in you again


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## Lilsnowy

Skycloud, writing is definitely a strong talent of yours and the more you exercise that, the better you will get also. You inspire me by what you share here and in other poetry threads!


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## skycloud86

Lilsnowy said:


> Skycloud, writing is definitely a strong talent of yours and the more you exercise that, the better you will get also. You inspire me by what you share here and in other poetry threads!


Thanks.

Got another one - 

An April Fool's Day
The trickery of springtime
Pranks end at midday
Or you will be the red faced fool
Watch the clock to win the prank


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## skycloud86

Can anyone guess what this one is about?

The boulder is sweet
Nothing inside this dark cave
Rabbits do not eat boulders
Borrowed from pagan stories
Three days from start to finish


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## Lilsnowy

Jesus' resurrection! Perfect as Resurrection Sunday is upon us. Thank you Skycloud!


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## skycloud86

A poem in one verse
Some beautiful syllables
Simple, poetic
Of Japanese heritage
Of Japanese culture


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## skycloud86

The MBTI 
Personal preference
Someone in four parts
Functions inspire the preference
Four letters that know of you


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## Lilsnowy

skycloud this is ours
No one else has joined our thread
Maybe they soon will
Put sweet thoughts into sweet words
Inspiring poets here


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## skycloud86

A reply to Lil
Posting poems in this thread
Perhaps they will soon
Creative thoughts make poems
Tanka flower blossoms here


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## skycloud86

Little message to the trolls and sockpuppets - 

Forum troll target
Multiple sock puppet attack
Bored moron needs life
Rather than trolling the board
Get one soon and stay away


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## skycloud86

Writers block of iron
Trap creativity within
The novel is blank
Inspiration from the muse
To shatter the iron curtain


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## jitte

I used to write mind files you could download that gave various Artificial Intelligence chat bots starting from a blank slate their personality and vocabulary and was inspired to this Haiku:

Talking to chat bots,
Cold and lonely winter night-
Echoing my words.

jitte


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## skycloud86

Soft sand under four feet
Gently splashed by cool ocean
Leave prints in the sand
And draw a heart to remind
We were here with the sunset


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## skycloud86

Cold darkness, brown eyes
Searching for her sanity
Endless psychosis
More loud hallucinations
Tear apart her dying brain


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## skycloud86

Silent end of time
Sun swallows the Earth in flames
Engulfs it in fire
Burns down existence of man
Burns away our cultured world


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## Lilsnowy

Skycloud, I love the one that begins, _soft sand under four feet. _They are all wonderful. 


Soft blanket soft girl
His nose pressed into her hair
A book to be read
Pages open one by one
The story of love unfolds


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## skycloud86

Old abandoned house
Smashed in windows, rusted doors
A happy home gone
Family dead and buried
A house pining for the past


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## skycloud86

A house divided
Brink of a civil warfare
Ironic conflict
Neighbour against neighbour fights
A nation is split into two


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## skycloud86

An unknown person
Someone on the edge of life
Inevitable
Hiding from the dark nothing
Fleeing from the would-be end


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## Lilsnowy

Posy flower blooms
Tended by eager fingers
The small bud is plucked
A nose buried deep ~ a kiss
Laughing as it blooms again


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## susurration

I trace the small hours
like fingers across gold sand
Stars strike the cool air
The worlds busy sleeping
Awake I trace shadows

Did I do it properly? :crazy:
​


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## skycloud86

NatalieAnne said:


> I trace the small hours
> like fingers across gold sand
> Stars strike the cool air
> The worlds busy sleeping
> Awake I trace shadows
> 
> Did I do it properly? :crazy:
> ​


It's a great tanka, but the last line has 6 rather than 7 syllables.


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## susurration

skycloud86 said:


> It's a great tanka, but the last line has 6 rather than 7 syllables.


Aw, damn. That'll teach me to write japanese poetry at 1 30 in the morning when I've been drinking wine! I was trying to count the syllables on my fingers, hehe. usually it never fails. I blame it on the wine. it's the wine I tell you!


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## Lilsnowy

NatalieAnne, don't worry if the syllables aren't perfect. The words in Japenese could mean fewer or more syllables in English. The pace and the tone are beautiful. Keep trying! Tanka is so worthwhile.


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## Narrator

Looking back on time
There is an invisible
line seperating
the sky and the endless sea
Where exactly know not, I.

My nose is bloody
And that it rhymes does shock me
For a rhyme in blood
Stains more than I think it should
Without reaching the page.

Pages and pages 
of blood splatters here like kites
and tails but not cats
My life stopped three years ago
And pages are all I've left.


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## bwood348

Bare naked in office lite
consealed fear of coming fite
alone i must stand with only rite
crouded room hope for site:sad:


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## Lilsnowy

Thanks Liminality. I like it a lot and the ending!
bwood, not really tanka but you do paint a picture!


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## bwood348

sorry left out a line poetic


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## skycloud86

I wrote this one today at a local park.

Tree grows green clothing
Reaction to the warm sun
Branches dance in breeze
A birds sing a song of love
Happy birthday to the trees


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## Lilsnowy

I just love that you are all trying this! Thanks so much! Now I hope to come up with another


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## skycloud86

I wrote this today at the park as the sun set.

Silent fleeting dusk
High wind brushes the tree tops
The sky fire burns out
Warmth begins to vanish quick
Cool embrace of the spring night


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## Lilsnowy

Foot prints, snowy night
You were here moments ago
I place mine in yours
Walking, two prints become one
But yours end and I must go on


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## Lilsnowy

I just redid my last one. I like this better:

Walked here way back when
Foot prints marred the muddy ground
My steps followed yours
Together, two prints were one
Yours ended and I trudged on


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## Lilsnowy

The door is open
As rain beats against my house
Shaky foundation
Wears away walls one by one
The storm passes while I dream


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## skycloud86

Alien doodle inked
Abstract picture on the page
In blue or black ink
Unscheduled work of art
Doodled daydreams on the page


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## conformità

skycloud86 said:


> Here's my attempt
> 
> Beautiful tree
> Sways gently with spring breezes
> Nature is at peace
> As pink blossom blooms alive
> Birds return with peaceful songs


 

i really like this one it sounds so relaxing. :happy:


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## skycloud86

*Roadside*

Concrete patchwork path
Proud green people standing tall
Cast their cool shadow
On a living green carpet
Near corridors of grey


*Planet*

Pale blue dot of ours
Sailing within black matter
Dancing around fire
Sister of Mars, friend of Moon
Thorny rose amongst the weeds


*Tanka*

Of the Rising Sun
A verse of five fingers
Five, Seven, Five, Seven twice 
Similar to a haiku, also
Of the Rising Sun


*Vengeance*

An eye for an eye
Gives birth to vicious cycles
Avenger in the abyss
Claim revenge and become them
Revenge is an injustice


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## Lilsnowy

Wow skycloud86.

I really liked George
Blue eyes, handlebar mustache
A cowboy camper
A prospector like the rest
But George can play a twelve string


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## KyojiK

The blue clear spring skies
Blossom petals dancing slow
Memories timeless
Cool shadow looms my warmed face
Angel through slow opened eyes

I wrote this long, long time ago when I was skipping classes and was sleeping under a cherry blossom tree.


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## Lilsnowy

I love it Kyojik! Thank you for sharing!


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## Faustus

huh, another poetry thread? neat! 

Disrupted focus
Effort fades into madness
The morning dawn breaks
The trials now completed,
Had they ever even began.


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## skycloud86

*England*

Like ancient oak trees
This, an elderly nation
Tales of invasion
Poems speak of it's history
Red roses growing wildly


*Wales*

The songs of the Welsh
Lyrics flow through the valleys
Under ancient standards
Of white peace, red blood and green land
Old Welsh tongue brought back to life


*Solitary*

Solitary voice
Lullabies in the night heard
As a city sleeps
The soft voice is known for miles
Only to vanish at dawn


*Dog In The Car*

A dog in the car
Pokes head out of window
Every journey new
Passing through the busy street
The world is not small for him


*Scripture*

Each religion is
Just another tongue spoken
Neither right nor wrong
And as for all of the sects
Happen to be dialects


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## Faustus

Words bear untold weight
The slightest phrase hits like bricks
Tearing down like silk
But one must stay vigilant!
Placing value in actions.


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## Lilsnowy

Ooh Fautus, me likey.


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## skycloud86

*Lake District*


Bullets in the Lakes
Peace shattered, motive unknown
Dead lie on hot streets
Tragic serenity here
A deadly foreign language



*Oak*


Tree around the house
Leaves peer over grey roofs
Tree sees house as a sibling
Branches brush against the walls
Leaves flutter into windows



*Farmhouse*


Etched into the stone
Initials above door frames
Old lonely farmhouse
Misses the long gone couple
The pair who made this a home



*Roof
*

Black plastic bag cat
Floating across the low roof
A breeze pulls you down
Silent as you surrender
And slip from roof to the ground


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## Lilsnowy

Skycloud, you consistently fill me with awe. Love Roof!


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## Promethea

Skycloud, excellent imagery.. and the oak, and roof ones had a calming effect on me when I read them. Great stuff, as usual. :crazy:


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