Tanaga: Filipino Poetic Form

[miyako73]

aabb - 7777


Vague demons restrain my words-
Their fire, the drips of their swords;
They hold my tongue, glue my lips-
Speechless now, no quibs, no quips.

[miyako73]

abab - 7777


I always yield to my dream:
Soft hair, agile bones, body;
I release the eager steam
from the arid earth, muddy.

[miyako73]

abba - 7777


I'll keep willow pears for you,
Sweet peaches and purple plums-
I'll pick them with silent hums;
Come and eat my ripe fruits too.

[miyako73]

abbb - 7777


"A struggle against silence:
Writing," a novelist said;
Words are noises in the head
That bother even in bed.

[miyako73]

aaab - 7777


They bury babies alive;
They shroud kids at four or five.
Innocence will not survive
In the land where bombs are rain.

[miyako73]

aaaa - 7777


Father, hustling and pimping,
Mother, selling and smoking,
Brother, in prison serving,
Sister, on Craigslist whoring.

[miyako73]

abcd - 7777


If you want to forget me,
Never speak the words I write,
Never think of their meanings,
Mute the sad poet now gone.

[Calidore]

I notice that not only the rhymes, but also the line rhythms, follow the a-b pattern of the poem. Is that typical for poetry, or is that deliberate artistry on your part?

[miyako73]

Partly, it must be the influence of the native tongue. I had to think in my language to write in English to keep (even subtle) the da-DUM-da-Dum-da-DUM-da rhythmic pattern. I did experiment though. I divided the lines into two and used the DUM-da pattern.



If you want / to forget me,
Never speak / the words I write,
Never think / of their meanings,
Mute the sad poet / now gone.

Father, hustling / and pimping,
Mother, selling / and smoking,
Brother, in prison / serving,
Sister, on Craigslist / whoring.