TANKA PROSE

           We are indebted to Janet Qually of the Poetry Society of Tennessee for material on this form.

           As the title suggests, tanka prose is a combination of prose and tanka.  It is given a title. It contains 1 or more paragraphs, with tanka verses falling between the paragraphs. A tanka verse does not have to follow every paragraph, but one is expected after the final paragraph.  The title and tanka verse are always centered. 

         The setup of the tanka verse portion is optional.  It can be the traditional 5-7-5-7-7 set-up—or the more lenient contemporary version of approximately 18-31 syllables since most tanka prose writers today use fewer syllables and honor no line length requirements.  Tanka verse uses no capital letters except proper nouns, and no punctuation except that needed for clarification (as perhaps dash or ellipsis).

         The prose portion is written in first person and should demonstrate standard accoutrements of poetry (simile, metaphor, alliteration, etc.).
         
         Correct formatting for tanka prose won't hold on the blog.  Email me and I'll send you an example of tanka prose in correct formatting.  Sorry about this, but I've tried and tried to make this look right.  It looks right to the blogger, but turns out it's scrambled for the reader.

          Again, examples of tanka prose were contributed by Janet Qually, Poetry Society of Tennessee.

F. Bruce, the Blogger