Fussy Little Forms: Tanaga

Good weekend, friends!

I’m writing this prompt in the early morning as our town wakes up under a blanket of fresh snow. Soon I’ll be out driving in it, headed to work. Are we done with this yet? Let’s travel somewhere else for a spell.

For our weekend fussy form challenge, let’s head to the Phillippines and try the TANAGA.

With apologies and love to you-know-you, the tanaga is similar to haiku and tanka, being a compact quatrain with four seven-syllable lines. The tanaga can be written in various rhyme schemes, but traditionally all four lines rhyme, like aaaa bbbb cccc, and so on:

    X X X X X X A
    X X X X X X A
    X X X X X X A
    X X X X X X A

Or you can try other rhyme variations, like aabb ccdd, or abba cddc.

A tanaga poem can stand on its own four lines, or the verses can be strung together for a longer poem. Usually titles are not used with tanaga poems.

The key to tanaga is that it is a witty poem, emotionally charged or heavy on metaphor, sometimes begging a question that demands an answer.

For a longer/better explanation, Pirate Grace O’Malley introduced the tanaga in the Garden some years ago, here: TULOY PO KAYO

For a quick example, here is one of my attempts from that time:

The golden arches beckon.
Hungry travelers reckon,
"Just once." No condemnation,
I understand temptation.

Okay, let’s try it. Have fun with this clever form, and please feel free to link up one or many tries as your rhyming heart desires. Enjoy!

The National Flower of the Philippines: Sweet & Fragrant Sampaguita