Haiku, Tanka and Choka...
The Castle Tall is sort of a choka, I guess.
I really love the Tanka form best for short pieces.
This one:
Swimmers
Tasting the current,
what do the swimmers ponder
in sunlight and shade?
Eagles hunt from high blue sky,
Bridges give sanctuary.
Goes with this photo:
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs18/f/2007/213/1/2/Swimmers_by_knittingknots.jpg
Like the Tanka to tell a story, the 575 and 7,7 lines separated to create the Japanese story form.
Tiger eyes burn bright
in the tall grass of the plain
golden fires watch
Night is their true feeding time
under stars as cold as they
Farmers fear the night
when the striped lords hunt
as do soldiers brave
Humbling it is
to know the prince of night
stalks his dark kingdom
You can run this form a long ways and tell quite a story with surprising ease. Versatile indeed. I was stationed in Japan in the early 60’s, and attended a sword making school. The forge work songs were in this form and the timing worked well for the keeping of time for the hammer blows. Sort of a ‘blacksmith work song’ as it were.
Swimmers,
with the photo this is a great poem, it has a connection that makes the poem and the picture parts of the story. Nice work indeed!
