My laptop has spent the past forty five minutes crashing, just to watch me squirm.
So, I have to get this out, quick and comprehensable.
Tankas.
I remember Mike doing his booklet of them last year and he tried to explain them to me, but all I really grasped was that Mike had some really friggin great peoms and that it had something to do with haikus.
Traditional tankas are similar to the Haiku, they have a set syllable structure of 5-7-5-7-7 which my brain seems to have already memorized. They also originated in Japan. Contemporary translators tend to agree with the set syllable structure, while in America, and even the English speaking community as a whole, we have in some part done away with the structure in preference of Free Verse. So far, I don't have much of an opinion on whether I prefer structured or free verse, but I see them quite differently so that might be way. Don't get me wrong, they are both beautiful. The examples in the readings, from Ruby Spriggs to William Ramsey, really struck me. The lack of titles and punctuation really got me going as well. The story telling is the most important part to me, though. I love how I know what's going on, even though they do go into symbolism at points. The connections made through the simplicity just kill me in wonderful way and I really just want to get into it.
