REvised with more historical detail.
genie Nakano
Before Japan
could read or write,
tanka was called waka
performed as short songs in five lines
short long short long long
Heian imperial court
was well versed in waka
after a love affair
erotic exchanges of waka
was expected proper etiquette
Women
were the best of tanka’s golden era
yearning, soaring
tales of love, nature, war
passion prevailed
750 AD the emperor decreed
waka to be recorded for history
4,000 love poems
brushed into exquisite scrolls
Manyoshu completed in 900
five lines, waka
burning, tales of love
nature, war, erotica
themes of long ago Japan
treasured in Manyoshu
waka flourished
for hundred of years
then suddenly jaded
grew out of touch
unconnected to society
pre-world war 1
the poetry bureau censored
and controlled tanka
Asaka-Sha, brotherhood
led by Tekkan Yosan, renamed it tanka
reborn
into a…
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Genie Nakano 