[stylist] Thank you for your comments. and iinstructions for the tankabun form

[KajunCutie926 at aol.com]

Thank you Shawn, Robert, and Jackie.  This is a  very special memory for me 
and to be able to share in a poetic way is a true  joy.
First of all, thank you Jackie for the great article  on writing Tanka.  I 
would recommend it to anyone who may have never  written a tanka or just 
needs a refresher.  Very informative and it will  help if you want to try a 
hand at this form  It is a very simple form once  you get that tanka out of the 
way.
 
Now for the instructions:  
 
The tankabun is a form that combines the structured  syllable oriented 
tanka and a piece of prose which my co-developer and I called  the 'bun'.  It is 
very similar to the haibun in structure but there are  distinct differences.
 
The tankabun begins with one tanka.  As you read  and research tanka you 
will see many references to the tanka capturing a moment  and that is the 
basis for the prose piece.
Your tanka can be about nature, seasons, life,  emotions, observations. 
With the evolution of modern poetry, even the syllable  count of your tanka can 
be different than traditional tanka.  Traditional  tanka are five lined 
poems syllabic in form---5/7/5/7/7 or 31 syllables.  I  have seen tanka done 
with line lengths a bit different than tradional but still  using only 31 
syllables.   I have used modern tanka myself when doing  these and both do work 
well with the form as a whole. The prose piece, or  the bun, which follows 
will then allow you to describe this moment in a more  personal way. How did 
it make you feel? What did you think as you experienced  it? How will you 
remember it?  Did it make you look at something in a  different way?  The 
prose is strictly your own thoughts on the events which  inspired the tanka so 
you can take where YOU want it to go.  The  restriction, which differs from 
the haibun, is that you can ONLY use one tanka  and it must precede the 
prose.  I will send another tankabun later as an  example of what you can do with 
the prose piece.  Titles are usually short  and most often will consist of 
one word either found in the tanka or the  prose.  So we have a short title, 
a tanka, and piece of prose.  That  is a tankabun.  It really is very easy 
and for those of you who enjoy both  form and freedom (as I call it) this is 
a perfect blending of both.  If you  have any more questions, please just 
ask.  I would love to see what you all  could do with this as I know it will 
be stellar.
 
Myrna