Tanka in a Faraway Land

By Tarik Dobbs
The leaders gather 
around to choreograph 
every desert bloom.
Another annexation, 
another standing settler.

Source: Poetry (October 2025)
  • Glossary Terms

    Tanka

    A Japanese form of five lines with 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables—31 in all. See Philip Appleman’s “Three Haiku, Two Tanka.” See also renga.