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Tanka Project: Guests 8

More! Yes, more terrific tankas from guests to the tanka project. I'm so thrilled to have these guys taking part in this project, so I'm sharing their work with you so you can love it too.

 First up is another awesome artwork from Joseph Massey (you've previously seen his work here), this one speaks to the world being rubbed out by November and reminds me of Thomas Hood's 'November' (set to music by the Art of Noise).

Elizabeth Bae-rett Browning does not enjoy the tanka, and I love that she wrote a tanka about it! It reminds me of the haiku written by the student who hated writing haikus but had to keep trying until they got it right:
Five syllables here,seven syllables in here,are you happy now?
I went to a poetry group recently and was chatting to a few people who could not get on with the haiku or the tanka AT ALL. Some people hate the syllabic constraints, and to be honest, my focus on tankas (I always want to write tankae) lately has shown me that I want to be freer in my focus too. So thanks for your candour Elizabeth.
A post shared by Tanka Project (@tanka_project) on

Last up is Eric Breitner, who also appeared in the first guest round up. This tanka from Eric speaks of grass growing on his skin and to me seems to be about the space around us that grows when we need it to, and even while it's growing, separating us from others, there is still a need to touch. 

Thank you so much to all the lovely people who have let me share their work on the tanka project. There is more coming!



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