I have long been a fan of Haiku, a poetry form that adheres to three lines of five, seven and five syllables. This week, The Daily Post writing challenge has taught me about Tanka, which has two extra lines of seven syllables each! As much as I admire Haiku’s bite-sized brevity, it’s a wonderful luxury to be able to stretch out those thoughts with extra lines and syllables.
Today I have written five verses of Tanka, in an attempt to provide a snapshot of Spider Boy’s week.
His front tooth is loose
A wiggle and a grimace
When will it fall out?
Trying to eat an apple
The offending tooth stays put.
While eating hot chips
In his new karate suit
He spits out his tooth
A little lump camouflaged
by potato in his hand.
A glass by his bed
Tooth resting under water
Now in the morning
Gold coins and fairy dust
“Aarrgh! I’ve got glitter on me!”
Gap-toothed six-year-old
He holds my hand as we walk
Now at school drop-off
He drops my hand and swaps it
For playing handball with friends.
Must be child-friendly
The homework sheet warns parents
Of the song for “News”
That rules out Nirvana then
But he’s outgrown the Wiggles.
The Alexcellent Life 
[…] Alexcellent! A week in the life of Spider Boy: a journey in Tanka […]
[…] Spider Boy lost a tooth, but I think I need to accept he is just not a fan of fairy dust (glitter) like his mum. I got the hint when he was fishing the coins out of the water and screamed in horror, “Aaaargh! I’ve got glitter on me!” […]
[…] Alexcellent! A week in the life of Spider Boy: a journey in Tanka […]
Beautiful post! I love how this detail brings two worlds together!
‘Now at school drop-off
He drops my hand and swaps it
For playing handball with friends.’
Nirvana would be fun though!
Great Tankas.
This was a great set of tankas! My son once wore that same toothy/one tooth missing smile and his white karate kimono, was this his p.j.’s or a robe or karate? Smiles for his fairy dust and reward! Such a wonderful little Spider Boy! (My boy is now 34, alas! but I have 6 ‘grandies’ that spread their love and adventures with me!)
Oh oh! I should have said my son just turned 33, my oldest daughter is 34. She turns 35 in March, 2015. They were my first husband’s and my 18 months apart children. My youngest is 28 and they all know those Backstreet Boys and we have a magazine with the photos of NKOTB group, I believe…
Thanks Robin, it’s his karate outfit – well, sort of karate – he does a martial art called Ji do kwan, which is a hybrid of Karate and Tae kwan do. Glad you’ve got the “grandies” now, hopefully I will one day too. Spider Boy is my only child so I have to be careful I don’t put too much pressure on him! Kids grow up quickly and while I love watching him grow, some days I miss the baby/toddler he once was, so it’s good that all comes back to us (hopefully, if we’re lucky) with grandkids.