Hello! Every now and then, you'll find a new starter-poem that you can finish, or some other poetry challenge on this page.

Chances are, most of you have tried your hand at Haiku. That's a three-line poem where the first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, and the last line is 5 syllables. Here's one:

Coffee mug kudos:
I drink from a cup that says
"I'm a great writer!"

Well, have you ever tried to write a Tanka poem? Those are five-line poems, from a Japanese tradition. There are many ways to write them, but the easiest to remember is their syllable format: 5-7-5-7-7. Here's one I wrote in October:
.

The roses shiver
waving goodbye to summer.
I shiver, happy
for the promise of cider
and the crackle of fire.

One friend told me that he writes Tanka poems to capture a snapshot of a moment. That's a great way to think about them! With Christmas right around the corner, I bet you'll have lots of great moments you'd like to capture in a poem. The next time you do, try writing a tanka!
 

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