haiku (high-koo)     <gesundheit!>

an unrhymed japanese verse form of three lines containing 5, 7, and 5
syllables respectively; also a poem of this form <compare to Tanka>

tanka (tank-ah)      <ur-welcome>

an unrhymed japanese verse form of five lines containing 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7
syllables respectively; also a poem of this form <compare to Haiku>

seems like ol' Webster is in a loop here: haiku: see tanka; tanka: see haiku.
:)

just out of idle curiosity, how come folks who drive german trucks are writing
japanese poetry?? :)   just wondering.

is there no native german poetry form (of reasonably short format)? like a
Kurzenversen??

joel