Experimental tanka are syllabic forms made using the basic structure of a tanka using the 5/7/5/7/7 or s/l/s/l/l syllable counts.

For example, the garland tanka below consists of six tanka in which the last stanza is formed from the preceding five tanka. Typically, line one from stanza one, line two from stanza two, etc. Like tanka, they should always have a title. These forms do not rhyme. They are always written in the first person viewpoint—just like the tanka.

Pick a subject and let each tanka reveal more about the experience. The last tanka stanza gives an overview of the other tanka. This is a great way to tell a story in tanka form. Just remember to write in the first person, as if the experience is happening to the poet.

Garland Tanka Example:

Waiting for Autumn

through the morning mist
I see early signs of autumn
red tints on green leaves
baffled by the warm weather
leaves stuck in chlorophyll’s hold

Lake Michigan’s gloom
birthing drizzle on wet streets
the end of my walk
yet, summer hangs on—waiting
for temperatures to drop

first autumn rainfall
the other side of silence
I dance with raindrops
a puddle reflects the sky
dew point reads in the millions

autumn’s solitude
oak branches creak in the wind
my wild dreams of storms
who speaks to me in echoes
geese flying in formation

temperatures plunge
dead sunflowers still face the sun
I rake piles of leaves
remembering summer days
Autumn gifts me the goods

through the morning mist
birthing drizzle on dark streets
I dance with raindrops
who speaks to me in echoes
Autumn gifts me the goods

© Colleen Chesebro

Questions? Let me know in the comments. 🌻