Today in English I had to write a Tanka and a Haiku. I felt like Matsuo BashÅ or somebody. For you unknowing ones, a Tanka is an unrhyming poem of five lines with (in this order) five syllables, seven syllables, five, seven and seven. A Haiku is just like that except without the last two lines of seven syllables (so five, seven and five).
The Tanka I wrote (which I'm very proud of, in the way which the father of a serial murderer is proud of his serial murdering progeny) goes as follows:
Palm fronds in the wind
Swaying like silken hankies
And lots of leaves fall
From the sky like dying birds
Wind takes them to drifting graves
I thought that one was a wee bit too angsty. So I decided I would lighten the Haiku up.
Water flows like tea
Great multitudes of the stuff
Drowns many large rats
I hope I got the syllables right. Tell me if I didn't. I'm off to go have a cup of Chai tea.
