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.
Angele Toomey Poetry 