Poet understudy

I've never considered myself a poet.
I've never aspired to be a poet.
I've never thought I could make the leap from fiction to poetry.
But . . .
I've never focused and tried to do it
Because . . .
I've never thought it would be good enough to be categorized as real poetry.

So . . .

I've decided I can write fiction AND attempt to craft poetry.
I've decided I don't have to be a poet to be a good writer.
I've decided to find examples of poetry I like, and model mine after them.

I found it!  It's called tanka poetry--similar to haiku.  Tanka has a total of 31 syllables in five lines, arranged in the pattern 5, 7, 5, 7, 7.  I 've written some haiku in the past, so I thought there is no reason in the world I shouldn't try this different format.

So far I've written three tanka poems.  When I re-read them, I think, "Not bad for my first few tries."

I've decided I seriously like that feeling.

The plan is to write 10-12 and then start sharing them here.  At that time, I will also engage in a li'l self promotion because I'll tweet them, too.  Maybe.

*Happy Saturday*

xoxoxo