trying to tanka

I set my goal to write five poems last week for the Random Acts of Poetry outing yesterday. In an earlier post, I posted "Trickster Translation," which I read on air live on the Betty Howls show at LU Radio. I read "The Divine Goodness: A Tree Called Sacred" (which I posted earlier) at Starbucks in Chapter's. I also adapted my rant against John Baird's UN speech that I posted last post, into poetic form; I'll post that later. 

The poem I read at the Farmer's Market was the shortest poem I wrote. It was very hectic at the market as we (the poetry word crew) were amongst the pumpkins, squashes, apples and other winter vegetables. The colour of these foods just draw people to them. 

Earlier in the week, I tried my hand at writing a tanka, which is an ancient Japanese form. There are five lines, each with a specific syllable length: 5 7 5 7 7.  Often, nature, the seasons, and emotions are the theme. Of course, as a novice of this form, I fell short. After I finished it, I realized I had written 5 7 5 7 5 instead. Well, modifications are part of the tanka's popularity in the West today, so I hope I can be forgiven. Next one I write, I'll try to be more faithful to tradition. 

Here's what I came up with:

Homeward

sweet smell of decay
yellow paper leaves crushing
surprise shout of red
My bike under the grapevine
I fall into hush. 

As properly I need two more syllables in that last line, here it is again with 5 7 5 7 7 form:

Homeward

sweet smell of decay
yellow paper leaves crushing
surprise shout of red
My bike under the grapevine
Headfirst I fall into hush.