# Writing > Personal Poetry >  Shared Poem - You Decide What Kind!

## amuse

here's background on these fab 4:
*limericks* end with the same sounds: lines 1,2,5, are A and 3 and 4 are B - what we could do here is after posting yours, you provide the words to end the lines of the one - example clue/stew/harsh/marsh/chew

*sonnets* are obviously hard as hell but we could have fun and maybe even turn some good ones out. personally i'd have more fun eating nails.  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: 
maybe we could each contribute 2 lines at a time? or 7 and 7.

*death poems* are sort of self-explanatory aren't they? i wrote mine one sad silly night years ago, although they're supposed to be done at ceremonial moments, (like hari kari - DON"T try at home!!) before the big bye-bye. there was a full moon that provided sentimental background, too.  :Rolleyes: 
with this one we could use the format we've used for the haiku - the last person's last line and build on it. it could be simultaneously spiritual, silly, helpful (like a friend of mine lost her friend recently, and i had nothing to offer but a poem) .

so the *tanka* (a.k.a. *waka*) was really popular into the 1500's - and i always think of my brothers' tonka trucks when i hear this word.  :Smile: 
"The first three lines (kami no ku) usually present an image or thought and the last two lines (shimo no ku) shift the focus to a related idea. We might see this as similar to a sonnet's "turn." - from http://web.njit.edu/~ronkowit/poetso...rch_tanka.html
with this one we could add the last two lines, and start the first three of the next.

here's an example by Lady Ise:
Pillows know, they say,
and so we slept without one.
Why then do rumors
like swirling pillars of dust
rise as high as the heavens?

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## emily655321

I like the idea of a tanka. (But Lady Ise's went two lines then three, by the way.  :Tongue: ) Another idea for that is instead of starting the lines of the poem for the next person, maybe we could write one then provide the topic for the next. Like, "[my poem].......cat fur in the sun." Then you write about cat fur in the sun, and suggest another topic.

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## amuse

oops, yes they did!

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## Koa

I'm for the death poem, firstly because it's depressive  :Biggrin: , then because as far as I understand, it has no fixed form and I'm sooo against fixed metrics (obviously cos I'm too lazy to care of syllables and stuff  :Biggrin: ).

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## emily655321

Oops, Koa, did you vote? You voted for tanka, not death poem, just so's you know.

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## amuse

there's always the coin toss!  :Biggrin:

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## atiguhya padma

It has to be the tanka for me. Whilst I like sonnets, they take too much time.

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## Koa

> _Originally posted by emily655321_ 
> *Oops, Koa, did you vote? You voted for tanka, not death poem, just so's you know.*


Did I? And most of all, did I vote? I think I didn't...cos in this poll threads I always say my opinion then forget to cast the vote... But maybe I did this time...don't remember...*will try now*

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## amuse

'bout ready to wrap this up - anyone else want to vote? we're closer and closer to the finish line...and the tanka is 3 paces ahead of the death poem, 5 seconds left, 4, 3...

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## fayefaye

have voted now. tanka, tanka, tanka!!

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## emily655321

whoo! under the wire, fayefaye. Guess I'd better get back to work on that then  :Tongue:

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## Koa

death poem death poem!  :Frown: 

Bah, I see my battle is lost already  :Biggrin:

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## amuse

Koa, you're on both forums right now! oh, yeah you know that  :Biggrin: 
do you want to start a death poem thread thread or just start throwing a few up here, like mud on a window?  :Tongue:

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## Koa

Don't worry thanks, I'd end up not caring much about the death poem thread, I know how undisciplined I am...  :Biggrin: 

*picks up some mud and looks for a good place to throw it*  :Biggrin:

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## Uncle Lar

The Universe, with
all its splendor, always seems
to mystify me.
The suns, stars and galaxies;
what purpose do they all serve?

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## Uncle Lar

*The Mystagogue seeks
Initiates who will learn,
adapt, and evolve
according to the Wisdom
from the Past for the Present.*

 :Thumbs Up:  

*Have a great Weekend!*

Sincerely,

Uncle Lar

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