Last Chance to Vote in the April 2026 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
bell
Voting closes for The Haiku Foundation Monthly Kukai tonight (the 24th) at midnight (east coast time). So make those final decisions and let us know whom you think did the best work this month.
Voting for The Haiku Foundation Monthly Kukai
Shortly after the conclusion of the submission period, an anonymous ballot comprising all submitted poems on that month’s theme will be posted to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) on the THF site. Any reader of this ballot is eligible to vote for their favorite poems at this time. A voter may vote for up to five (5) poems per theme. A top vote will receive 5 points, a second-place vote 4 points, a third-place vote 3 points, a fourth-place vote 2 points, and a fifth-place vote 1 point.
Please use the Kukai voting form below to enter your selections, and then press Submit to cast your votes. No other votes will be recognized or honored. All votes must be signed (that is, no “anonymous” votes will be accepted, and the Submit button will not be available until both Name and Email fields are filled in), and no poet may vote for his or her own work. No commentary upon the poems will be accepted or published. Votes will be accepted from the appearance of the ballot on the 18th of that month through midnight of the 24th of that month. Readers may vote only once per ballot. Administrators of the kukai are ineligible to vote.
Note: Anonymity is an essential part of any kukai. If you know who wrote the poem then that entry is no longer anonymous. Please respect the Kukai and do not vote for that entry.
The Ballot
1 | a bell — the coffin lid closed | |
2 | a bell in the breeze the shadows of maples sway over the graves | |
3 | a bell rings at dawn her message punctuates the silence | |
4 | a bell rings in the empty sky of my mind | |
5 | a church bell tolls inside the stone walls hummingbirds flee | |
6 | A clap of thunder A clapping of bronze bells heard Clapping hands silenced | |
7 | a dark game with bells and flowers — nursing home | |
8 | a name from afar — heart trembles, a hasty turn only the still air | |
9 | a noble hero’s fine wet hem of bell | |
10 | a petal trampled on the ground — school bell | |
11 | a pigeon behind the window puppet show | |
12 | a sound of emptiness from the monastery’s bell Butter Lamp Festival | |
13 | a sparrow shrugs off the rain wind chimes | |
14 | a wave is a wave is a wave | |
15 | afternoon Loo the copper red of cattle bells | |
16 | almost too fast to notice the bell-flowers along the roadside | |
17 | ancient bronze bell the crack in its side holds the deepest note | |
18 | angelus — the call of owls inside a bell | |
19 | another nightmare the school bell still rings | |
20 | at the end of an empty collar a bell holds vigil | |
21 | awakening from silence spring blossoms temple bell | |
22 | beach bicycle navigating the boardwalk “ring-ring,” the bell | |
23 | bee sips from dewdrop bluebell spring | |
24 | bell written in corn a blue cloud | |
25 | bell bottoms in her closet an epitaph | |
26 | bell curve still quite Normal other things not | |
27 | bell curve the long slide down | |
28 | bell in the twilight — the silence of the sound that never ever ends | |
29 | bell rings I react go to class and go to lunch I am Pavlov’s dog | |
30 | bellflowers . . . in the blink of an eye eternity | |
31 | bells chime agreeably, giggling on a barely breeze — busy bees, busy birds, lazy me. | |
32 | bells ringing the falcon pair is back on Paris Notre Dame | |
33 | Bells tolling all night You did not pay attention Now it tolls for thee | |
34 | beneath the glacier, a silent memory of cowbells ringing | |
35 | bicycle bells one after another — spring thaw | |
36 | birds at the feeder the tinkle of her collar through the glass | |
37 | birds’ serenity bell in hands kalimba | |
38 | birdsong the parakeet rings its bell | |
39 | blooming bluebells a new entry in her self penned diary | |
40 | bluebell chorus — river of thoughts drift down the Potomac | |
41 | bomb unexploded on display in the museum — sounds the death knell | |
42 | break bell a guffaw flows from the same hue | |
43 | call to worship loud righteousness a deep soul mist | |
44 | chestnuts bloom — after a sleepless night the milkman’s bell | |
45 | Church bell — timing the sale of indulgences | |
46 | church bell . . . another mass attack | |
47 | church bells begin to toll echoing through the village the cortege moves on | |
48 | climbing each step for sacred temple bell new life rings ahead | |
49 | cold rain a change in tone of the old church bell | |
50 | country walk in a rhythm the sound of cattle arriving | |
51 | curfew bell — a tricolor pales in the mist | |
52 | cycle bell — the darting path of a dragonfly | |
53 | dappled sun in the churchyard a quarter peal | |
54 | deep carillon pilgrims starting out in the frozen dawn | |
55 | Delhi doorbells — from morning ragas to Bollywood Oms’ | |
56 | denshō sky no trace of my mother’s ashes | |
57 | dinner bell we dream of being full | |
58 | dinner bell — pigs eating something in the yard | |
59 | distant bell . . . fading in the fog the scent of quince | |
60 | docent taps four favorites one lingers beyond hall of bells | |
61 | dog collar with bell at cold door endless silence | |
62 | doorbell a toddler checks height | |
63 | Doorbell rings, woof woof puddle of drool on the floor slay, Pavlov, you witch | |
64 | eager for a walk the bell around dog’s neck | |
65 | encore! curled in the cookie-cutter cool sound of a bell | |
66 | endless tumble of the wind through the chimes again, a friend lost | |
67 | escaping in time — on the bell’s tongue a butterfly | |
68 | evening school bell and then the chorus of bicycle bells | |
69 | fading light . . . the shepherd hears the cowbell again | |
70 | fairies glide to melodious calls of bells | |
71 | falling dusk right after the vesper bells a deadly hush | |
72 | feathery hoarfrost the church bell changes its tune | |
73 | February daffodils early bloomers questioning the bell curve | |
74 | final bell While I think about opening the school gate | |
75 | first light — the soft chime of her anklets | |
76 | for whom the bell tolls my kingdom for a toll booth | |
77 | gentle bronze whispers and ripples in the still morning . . . mind settles like dew | |
78 | grazing cattle — one bell out of rhythm | |
79 | green silence — up and down the hill evening bell | |
80 | grist wheel in Bell’s Mill Park the spill of bonfire stories | |
81 | hail ringing the windchimes Easter Day | |
82 | Harebells nod A silent fanfare Spring is here | |
83 | Hawk casts a shadow on a crowd of bluebells | |
84 | hearing the cow bell — OW udder ready to burst | |
85 | heart-shaped respiration an onlooker rings the whale bell | |
86 | homecoming only bluebells nod in greeting | |
87 | I sing my songs through the Bellflowers to my love | |
88 | in our bell bottoms we listened to Sonny and Cher | |
89 | It warns the bird Before the cat Pounces | |
90 | It’s TIME for DINNER. ALL the work on the farm STOPS! HEAR the CALLING Bell? | |
91 | Kaneyama’s bell the sound lingers on and on but you are now gone | |
92 | knock knock knock then doorbell ring ring ringingggg go away not today | |
93 | Korean bell the dampened sound of snow | |
94 | last bell bitter sweet good byes | |
95 | last bell the familiar ring of children’s shouts | |
96 | Liberty Bell . . . the crack grows longer and wider | |
97 | lily-of-the-valley wedding bells ring in the distance | |
98 | mall santa wearing his suit with bells on | |
99 | match or marriage a ring, a challenge, a bell next round | |
100 | Meditation bell. I stop daydreaming. Sit up straight | |
101 | mice applaud cat’s frustration collar bell | |
102 | monastery bell drifting through morning mist awakens stones | |
103 | monastery bells the thrum in the rhododendrons | |
104 | morning birdsong hours begin on Bluebell trail | |
105 | morning wake up call a distant bell was ringing such very sad sounds | |
106 | native lily blooms Yellow bell after five drink bumble bee cocktails | |
107 | night nurse adjusting the emergency bell towards the patient | |
108 | no more birdsong the only sound a cat’s bell | |
109 | one last chance admission to a new life . . . graded on the bell curve | |
110 | peace treaty the old school bell rings again | |
111 | radiation completed she rings the bell still holding her breath | |
112 | rain tumbles from clouds plays keep away with thunder — feisty bluebells smirk | |
113 | recess bell the school children’s call to player | |
114 | reverberating . . . a monk pulls the heavy rope chants for the new year | |
115 | reverberation — a blackbird bows | |
116 | rich and resonate haunting sounds over the highlands bluebells of scotland | |
117 | ringing . joy or sorrow | |
118 | ringing of a bell — its echo is floating on waves of air | |
119 | rude awakening — bats scatter before sunset | |
120 | same time everyday that same cycle bell she slips out for a walk | |
121 | school bell — his small hand slips from mine | |
122 | school bell . . . she reaches out for her walking stick | |
123 | school bell rings sweaty street kid with a candy cart | |
124 | sirens — the moo louder than its bell | |
125 | skin-to-skin in the birthing suite her eyes ring | |
126 | snatching an apple from my neighbor’s orchard the nunnery bell tolls | |
127 | spring breeze the gentle sound of my baby’s anklet | |
128 | spring breeze the sound of the bell how cool when it releasing | |
129 | spring evening burying my bird with his bell | |
130 | spring rain the tune of water through the bell chain | |
131 | still hanging a cracked school bell in the rubble | |
132 | still intact the little bell on her cat’s crushed collar | |
133 | summer pasture the wind wears a cowbell | |
134 | Sunday morning church bell clamor . . . even puddles quiver | |
135 | sunset’s last rays on mountain shrine bell’s sound in the dark valley | |
136 | swallows nest in the silence of the old school bell | |
137 | swinging porch light a ground beetle rings its bell | |
138 | temple bell a toddler grows taller than father’s shoulders | |
139 | temple bell even the cicadas take pause | |
140 | temple bell frog leaps the shimmered moon | |
141 | temple bell — in the cloud widening blue | |
142 | temple bell ringing — folded hands with soft prayers stillness settles in | |
143 | temple bells — how softly a prayer unfolds | |
144 | temple bells . . . the echo carrying away lilac scent | |
145 | temple ruins the reverberance of a phantom bell | |
146 | the bell tolls children’s boots Auschwitz | |
147 | The bells rang once, twice I looked upon his pale face — For the last time. | |
148 | The birds are perching On a bell above the church To hear some old hymns | |
149 | the chiming bell I try to remember why or what or where | |
150 | the death knell — a dog howls again and again | |
151 | the diver descends his oxygen tank dings a bell for the drowned | |
152 | The first bells to ring in spring, the snowdrops keep their heads bowed | |
153 | the intruder in another sleepless night — tinnitus | |
154 | the old pond tinging every bell shaped flower | |
155 | the ring of bells as strong as sweet my brain like a cathedral | |
156 | The sound of the temple bell — down through the mist.. | |
157 | the sound of the bell guides me home one breath at a time | |
158 | the soundtrack of my solitude wind chimes | |
159 | the tinkling of a bell on a neighborhood breeze the music of ice cream | |
160 | the toll of the bell, fires up my inner taste buds, my time to enjoy. | |
161 | the torn Bell Jar under the debris — memories of war | |
162 | through dense fog following the sound of the goat’s brass bell | |
163 | Through the winding glade sonorous cuckoo calls echo as water leaps against stone | |
164 | ticket-holder line a crack in the Liberty Bell | |
165 | toll of a bell — it is cracking into dawn | |
166 | tolling bells lolling waves a deep sleep dawn | |
167 | try to remember old saying resonating — does not ring a bell | |
168 | tuning the tenor bell my aging heart | |
169 | unbearably loud this lengthening silence liberty bell | |
170 | visiting our voices in a temple bell | |
171 | war rubble — the cries of children by the broken bell | |
172 | wedding bells confetti and rice Mr. & Mrs. | |
173 | wedding bells — father apologizes for not being enough | |
174 | Westminster chime two minutes off the hour let it go | |
175 | when mountains, why altars? when birdsong and bluebells why bells? | |
176 | with the temple bell all tourist chatter lost in a sound swell | |
177 | withered reeds — a cowbell at the slaughterhouse | |
178 | woodland dusk — within each bluebell the press of rain | |
179 | World War II the death knell for many bells | |
180 | Yellow bellworts nod All across the woodland floor, my path rung in gold. |
Kukai Results
On the first day of the following month, results of the tally of the kukai will be announced. The top vote-getters as voted by readers will be posted, along with the number of points each poem tallied, and each poem’s authorship will be revealed at this time. Winners will be invited to select from a list of prizes provided by The Haiku Foundation. The theme for the new month will be announced at the same time, and the process repeated. Poems remain the copyrighted property of their authors, but The Haiku Foundation reserves the right to publish, display and archive all submitted poems for this and other purposes at its discretion.
Congratulations to all our participants!
