Tanka Poetry - Show #190 (4/30/12)

Poetry class offered during the month of April as part of PoemCity! - Montpelier's celebration of National Poetry Month. The class, taught by Vermont poet and writing instructor, Michelle Demers, offered instruction in writing tanka, an ancient form of Japanese poetry. Today's Write The Book Prompt is, of course, to write a tanka. During our class in April, one student who chose not to have his poems recorded for the show was Eric, a 13-year-old from Calais. Although he didn't really want to hear his voice on the radio, he did give me permission to pass along some good advice that he offered during the class, which feels appropriate for this week's prompt. In writing tanka poems during the class, he found that his second poem grew somewhat naturally out of the first, because he "wasn't thinking about it too much." The first poem he wrote was about a lake, and when he finished with it, he was inspired to write about a fish. This was excellent advice. "Not thinking too much" can be a big help in producing fresh, exciting poems and prose. So this week, write a tanka. If you'd like to read a little more about the form before trying it out for yourself, you can check out the websites tankasocietyofamerica.com and tankaonline.com Good luck with this prompt, and please listen next week for another!