From Love to Beloved - Poetry Prompt #2 - Grit & Grace

Here is prompt #2 in our #FromLoveToBeloved series: write a Tanka poem on the theme of love. I hadn’t heard of this style of poetry until recently. A Tanka is an unrhymed poem consisting of 5 lines. The first three lines are identical to the haiku style. The number of syllables in each line are as follows: 5,7,5,7,7.

Since I’m used these poetry prompts along with my Beloved Study through the Gospel of John, I’m using John 2 as my launching point. You can base your poem on John 2, or you can just use the theme of love in general to guide your Tanka-style poetry. From love to beloved.

From water to wine,

the first glimpses of Jesus;

first glimpses of love.

Flipping tables, speaking truth:

This, my friends, is also love.

A quote to inspire you:

“The idea is to write it so people hear it, and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”

Maya Angelou

Remember to use the hashtag #FromLoveToBeloved when you share your work.

You can read my first poem in the From Love to Beloved series here: Poetry prompt #1

You can also read why I decided to write poetry for this series here.

I’m a wife, mama to three, and our rescue dog Riley. If you’re into personality profiles at all, I’m a 1 on the Enneagram, which also makes me a recovering perfectionist and people-pleaser. I’m a writer, speaker, and content creator. I’m a hopeful encourager and freedom fighter who loves God and others…clumsily.