Syllables
![Smile Smile](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
i-am-not-so-keen 1 2 3 4 5
on excitement provided 1 2-3-4 5-6-7
by poor limericks 1 2 3-4-5
All of the previous "haiku"s were just a crazy part of an even crazier idea (i.e. "What if we all talk in haikus now!") that really didn't move anywhere - I don't think it was meant to... anyway, apart from these, that is. I took the low road and left the full stop(s) (caesuras, meditative points/changes of focus or situation) out from all of them since... well, oh well.
Anyway, yea, usually the idea in English (or Finnish for that matter) is that you have 17 syllables for haikus and 31 (17+14) for tankas. I hope this helps a little, it would be lovely to see more of original work that conforms to certain standards of art here.
Tuomas Anhava was(?) one of the more prominent translators of Japanese poetry in Finland, and I've actually tried to acquire all of his output in that area - so far without much success though (some of the prints sold out in the 80s or so). Here's an example of a tanka in Finnish:
Yakamochi:
Sinä hymyilit
kun kylvimme neilikat:
odota syksyyn.
Ne kukkivat nyt. Sinä
et ole näkemässä.
The restrictions of translation are evident, but... it's awesome! Sugoi!