Macungie, Pennsylvania is home, and ONE WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT is a blog by Catherine Gehman, educator. Her posts are designed to energize and inspire teachers in all stages of their career by simply giving - giving ideas that work for her, and by bringing attention to past and current expert voices in education.

Saying Good Morning to Steve:  A Somonka

Saying Good Morning to Steve:  A Somonka

Catherine Gehman

Lot's to do today.

Throwing in some laundry now.

Going to the gym.

And good morning, by the way.

What is on your agenda?


What is on my agenda?

First, tell you that I love you.

And, I want to kiss your cheek.

Let's do the chores tomorrow,

And take a long drive somewhere.



A Somonka is two conversational Tankas.  A Tanka is similar to Haiku but it has more freedom and allows for a conversational form and is not limited to nature.  It has a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern.

Works Cited

“Henry at One Hundred.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 27 Oct. 2015, www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/tanka-poetic-form.

“Somonka: Poetic Forms | Japanese Poetry Types | Tanka Love Letters.” WritersDigest.com, 17 Oct. 2013, www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/somonka-poetic-forms.


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