Category: Haiku-a-day 2016 Tanka Mash-up

A Japanese poem a day keeps the muse shining, raining, embracing her Earth.

A living performance art, this is my third year of creating a haiku-a-day. Last year I upped it to Tanka — further challenged myself to add two more seven syllable lines. The tanka predated haiku, and was later shortened to the beloved classic form.

This year I will do a mash-up of both, whichever the poem calls me to choose.

Inspired by writer Nicole Galland who founded The Haiku Room (a closed Facebook group*) on January 1, 2014, and tens of other writers therein, I committed to a year in 2014. A couple of us have kept going to the present. Not always easy, but I learned from another in the “room” that when you get blocked, just lower your standards. It gets you through the block and good stuff always returns. Thus you may occasionally find some substandard work, but the practice has brought many gems to life that wouldn’t have otherwise lived.

The first year culminated in an anthology, Everyday Haiku, edited by Kristen Ringman, of which I am honored to be a part. https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Haiku-anthology-Kristen-Ringman-ebook/dp/B071J74KGJ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1513447409&sr=8-2&keywords=everyday+haiku

*A big thank-you to one of my favorite authors, Janet Fitch, for adding me.