Recently I have been writing haiku a fair bit. Undoubtedly a talented haiku writer might spend agonized hours perfecting their verse, but approach has been--to the say the least--a little bit less strenuous. If I sit down for an hour, I usually end up with about ten of the malformed poems in my notebook.

Recently I have been wanting a little bit more room, and decided to start adding some tanka to the mix. The haiku has a 5-7-5 pattern, and is supposed to paint a scene. The tanka follows a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern, and should form a complete thought. Not that I necessarily follow the 'paint a picture' or 'complete thought' guidelines, but its something that perhaps should be kept in mind.

Feelings like flash
Floods. Anger like forest
Fires. As they swell
Up, they also come crashing
Down. Holding myself in check

Riding the winds
I envy the eagles
Specks in the sky.

Tea in a coffee
Cup. Feet with nary a sock.
Blue sky. Gentle breeze.
The river roars below.
Birds comprise the chorus.

Ah, relaxation.
The battery is dying,
But it works for now.

Tanka, here I come.
Two more lines give so much room,
But I still wonder:
Generosity provides
Rope enough for disaster.

Vegetables.
Teaching the same kids the same
Materials.
Looking in cracks for meaning,
Sometimes I find it. Sometimes.

Fixations grow
In small devious places.
Weeding is a chore.