I Love Writing Tanka
First five syllables
Second seven syllables
Pivot at haiku
Seven starts lower poem
Seven finishes with depth
Quoting Brett Christiansen:
So, a tanka poem is like a haiku with two extra lines added. Sometimes, this extra length can offer a little more scope to tell your story. And, unlike haiku, tanka allows metaphors, similes, and personification.
Traditionally, Tanka poems were written as one continuous line. But modern versions written in English are usually formatted over five lines.
Tanka poems typically have a turn or pivot in the third line. An article about Tanka on poets.org notes:
Like the sonnet, the tanka employs a turn, known as a pivotal image, which marks the transition from the examination of an image to the examination of the personal response. This turn is located within the third line, connecting the kami-no-ku, or upper poem, with the shimo-no-ku, or lower poem.
I also write the single-line form:
