Tanka poems by young people
To support KRYT, Audacious have worked with ArtfulScribe to commission Susmita Bhattacharya to create a digital resource, teaching students how to write poetry about Mayflower 400 exploring themes of:
Self-identity.
Identity of Southampton.
Relationships with the sea.
Journeys & migrations.
To celebrate people of the world.
Southampton as a gateway to the world.
Tanka
Tanka
How to write a tanka poem, a Japanese form of syllabic verse consisting of 5 lines of poetry.
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One
We leave everything
Looking for a brand-new life
Waiting over sea
My hand tightens round mother’s
I won’t let them see my tears.
– Hannah
Two
Stomach lurches as
The sea monsters play their games
Waves stand giraffe-tall
My thoughts are fired, am sinking
But little boat is stubborn.
– Hannah
Three
I hate these faces
They are all unfamiliar
Seeming too perfect
No one else here looks like me
I feel like the odd creature.
– Hannah
Across the Sea
The deepest blue road
Swirling around the ship’s skin
A skin made of wood
Sheltering us inside her
But our home will be elsewhere.
– Louise, aged 16
Tanka
This place I call home
Red, green, black and white are the
Colours of my tribe, we
Are the indigenous one.
Watch out when the Burbas come.
– Hiba, aged 14
Tanka
Skyscrapers tickle
The sun awake, yellow cabs
Honk morning chorus
I am surrounded by noise,
People, yet I am alone.
– Katie, aged 16
Paris
To get there I must
Board a train with my own car
To then drive for hours
To be in the place of romance
And history – to make my own.
– Isobel, aged 15
