Angele Toomey Poetry

This tanka was inspired by my experiences of participating in poetry slams. This style of performance poetry is one I struggle to master as it doesn’t come naturally to me…we are like oil and water (both absolutely valid and wonderful, but just not a good match).

For those of you not familiar with a tanka, it is a style of short poetry from Japan. The poet writes a 31 syllable poem that consists of line 1 (5 syllables), line 2 (7 syllables), line 3 (5 syllables), line 6 (7 syllables) and line 7 (7 syllables).

Congratulations, you aren't progressing to the next round
What defines style
the unwritten rules of form
that I cannot read:
they award merit where it's due
then remove my microphone.