Tanka Train

Don't panic. I can explain. Waka or tanka -> 31-syllable poems, written in a continuous line, but later popularised as poems with line breaks in 5-7-5-7-7 pattern.

This thread is just like the haiku thread, except with tanka Please use the last line of the tanka before yours as the second line of your tanka. (Modifications made because of differences in syllable counts between haiku and tanka.)

Traditional tanka typically have the following features:

• mix themes of nature with human feelings
• have a 'turning point' or a twist in the second last line
• little to no punctuation

BUT feel free to write non-traditional tanka here as well!

Here is a tanka to start, and I've underlined the line to use:

i read that tanka
were originally sung
in a river stream
which runs loudly gutter-borne
through the streets, the roads to home

ooh this is so fun! great idea Liminality :)

i am tiptoeing
through the streets, the roads to home -
cracks in the asphalt
match the crinkles in my palm
whispering of the future

The loud stars are
whispering of the future-
I find that so odd;
they keep the earth up all night
dancing with the galaxy

Nebulas spinning,
Dancing with the galaxy,
Stars shining brightly,
Yoshis eating egg pieces,
Gazing up, skyward, starstruck.

(Don't ask why I used Yoshis. Maybe I should have yoshis in my last line next time heheheheheheheheh)

(oops that may be unintentionally hard to follow)

Here I am looking
Gazing up, skyward, starstruck
and all I see is
infinity falling down
it stains your faces not mine

My tears fall freely;
it stains your faces not mine
as puzzles connect
and you all stare at the ground;
mistakes crumble around us.

i watch silent as
mistakes crumble around us,
piling up mountains
on which, the wise grey oaks stretch
stealthily ever upward

Creaking, shattering
Stealthily ever upward,
Over the mountains,
Beneath the raging oceans,
The Sun's journey never ends

trapped in the centre
the sun's journey never ends
always stuck spinning
in place — if it stops the world
will come crashing down

Spoiler

@whatchamacallit Your last line is five syllables, so I'll use your second-to-last line

We must keep all things
in place-- if it stops the world
from devouring
itself and the rest of us
without reluctant regret

The moon guides the seas
Without reluctant regret
Towards itself, and
Water draws away from land,
Trying to reach a false star.

Midnight -- I am out
trying to reach a false star,
hands in thick night air;
by my feet, mimosas bloom,
nearly white on shadowed soil.

your faded footprints
nearly white on shadowed soil,
left to guide the strayed
through this eternal darkness
into the lights of heaven.

I had gazed, amazed,
into the lights of heaven,
there were shining lights,
filled with eternal smiling,
and ghosts who crossed perfection.