Hi,
I don't usually revive "dead posts", but I've been working on a haiku for close to three months and thought this would be a good spot to place my work and questions.
I've really tried to do some studying on it.
I am making a garden and the ground doesn't hold water permanently. Only during the spring rains. Over the years, the rains had washed out a small channel in the ground. I dug this out larger to form a stream-like bed that will be lined with stones and planted with Iris. The larger 900- 1,500 Lb stones were moved into place this past weekend. I will line the bottom with pebbles at a later time.
In some online searches about Japanese gardens, I found that some garden ornamentation is important. Some use "poetry stones" - stones with engraved or painted-on haiku or tanka. I was thinking of doing that.
Since this plant bed will resemble a stream and we have lots of deer around a passage came to mind...
I hope I don't offend anyone. It is Psalms 42:1
"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God."
I want to keep the haiku traditional in structure.
Since the streams flow the most during the spring in Japan from the melting snow off of the mountains, does "stream" count as my season word?
I don't know if I have a "cutting word" or not though?
I have come up with a couple variations. Neither of which do I know if they are correct or not.
Tanka:
(original kanji ) 鹿が乾いた河床に向かってあえぐように神よ、わが魂もあなたに向かってあえぐ
(romaji) shika ga kawai ta kawadoko ni mukatte aegu you ni kami yo, waga tamashii mo ana ta ni mukatte aegu
tanka?
鹿が乾い (5?)
河床に向かって (7?)
あえぐように神 (5?)
よ、わが魂もあな (7?)
たに向かってあえぐ (7?) (but, should end with a particle?)
haiku?
神阿
我的心切
鹿切水
kami omone
ware teki shin setsu
shika kirimizu
I read somewhere that the written and pronounced syllable count can vary from one another. That confused me a bit. So I don't know if either of these really adhere to the 5-7-5 and 5-7-5-7-7 counts or not. Or if there is a better way to write it out so that it works, adheres to proper form and uses the traditional simple grammar?
Thank you for any insight that any of you may be able to give on constructing a proper haiku or tanka.