Last Chance to Vote in the December 2022 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
celebration
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 | 20 year old cognac celebrating this 30 year old marriage | |
2 | a quiet celebration with healed scars and a one-year chip | |
3 | a soldier falling into opened arms returns home | |
4 | a thousand party lights reflect and shine on the bald head | |
5 | a yellow flower in the beggar’s bowl sunny Christmas | |
6 | anniversary a celebration of wedding vows | |
7 | anniversary the new frame of Grandpa’s picture | |
8 | bachelor party his dog doesn’t allow the stripper inside | |
9 | beach party — a double burst of sarcasm in the pizza’s crust | |
10 | beneath the tree brandy snifter empty fat tabby naps | |
11 | Birthday dinner . . . no one but the waning moon | |
12 | birthday gathering guest of honour fades into the background | |
13 | blurred lines the erased name on my invite | |
14 | bouquet catching her smile | |
15 | bourbon and soda water poured into a rocks glass topped with cherries . . . the new year begins with a kiss | |
16 | breathing light blue mask a memory | |
17 | busy schedule i celebrate with children the rainbow | |
18 | cake and candles the toddler’s scream rises above the song | |
19 | carnival these dresses in the wardrobe waiting for a wonder diet | |
20 | celebrate good times come on! let’s have a good time — just an old song . . . | |
21 | celebrating fifty . . . i shed the weight of my last name | |
22 | celebrating my unmasked face . . . vibrant rainbow | |
23 | celebrating the new year a boiling egg explodes | |
24 | celebration done we crush soda cans with our heels | |
25 | celebration — the tree grows a new branch | |
26 | celebration the whoops ha’s and smiles in the grebe dance | |
27 | champagne stars falling off the sky | |
28 | cherry blossoms . . . laughter drifts down the river | |
29 | Christmas breakfast in the photo mother lifts her last cup of tea | |
30 | Christmas Eve in our family the sound of a new accent | |
31 | Christmas Eve the stories we tell our children | |
32 | Christmas in pieces my Kris Kringle wish a kintsugi class | |
33 | Christmas lights a child again watching someone else make the magic | |
34 | Christmas morning forgetting again batteries | |
35 | christmas morning the rescue dog licks his approval | |
36 | Christmas night the crying of a newborn in bomb shelter | |
37 | Christmas time lanterns, lights, flickers in the street | |
38 | Christmas truce — in a front line fir tree a vigil candle | |
39 | Christmas wreath — I don’t think she would have wanted “MUM” | |
40 | class reunion — group photograph heavy with the scent of marble | |
41 | competing with the stars fireflies | |
42 | confetti bomb — a thousand starlings take flight | |
43 | contest win the shape of zeros made by lips | |
44 | Crickets singing joy Grass dancing in the wind A nature party | |
45 | crystal ball dropping everything to celebrate the journey | |
46 | dawn shines even after the darkest night dreaming peace | |
47 | desert festival — folk music undulates across the dunes | |
48 | Diwali celebration the slum illuminates in its own lights | |
49 | double delight | |
50 | every Sunday another candle: light is coming | |
51 | falling kites rag-pickers embrace pieces of rainbows | |
52 | family reunion in their hands champagne glasses | |
53 | feeding birds on Christmas morning — my gift to me | |
54 | first rain a celebration of summer in our autumn | |
55 | first rain after the drought a festival of flora | |
56 | first steps dance down the hall successful surgery | |
57 | forks placed to the left candles lit hiding in the loo | |
58 | four notes the celebration begins | |
59 | fox cubs frolicking at soft dawn — first snow! | |
60 | full moon — smooth and spindly hands raise a glass | |
61 | get-together we compare who’s wearing a better smile | |
62 | giggling at the courthouse mom’s 3rd marriage | |
63 | Gloomy sky Oh! that bird still lingering | |
64 | harvest season dancing with the wind old scarecrows | |
65 | hidden presents tied up with string celebration | |
66 | holiday bonus a toast with cheap champagne | |
67 | holiday fireworks the toddler in me | |
68 | holiday shopping . . . the mannequin beckons from swimwear | |
69 | home sleeps — warm sighs dance together | |
70 | Indian wedding my feet find the beat before me | |
71 | joy unbounded a get together no comparison | |
72 | lantern festival — our wishes slowly rise over the Chiang Mai’s river | |
73 | Let the party start Roasting turkey-stomach growls Front doorbell warbling | |
74 | life is a window shopping | |
75 | longed for baby her father’s words ‘our missing piece’ | |
76 | memories of us melt away — frozen tree branches | |
77 | midnight toast a stray shrapnel strikes the cuckoo clock | |
78 | million stars shine bright celebrating each night! | |
79 | missing her presence as Christmas unwraps | |
80 | mixmaster carnival ride to the future | |
81 | moon and i hear hoot owl in neighbor’s tree | |
82 | morning rice field frogs after the rain voice of independence | |
83 | my birthday party . . . how many candles on the cake this year | |
84 | My mom’s birthday Bittersweet “celebration” No candles to blow | |
85 | New Year’s Eve on tv she toasts with many faces — a single glass | |
86 | new year’s eve . . . preparing pots and pans | |
87 | New Year’s toast a tipsy tip of the glass to an Earth atilt | |
88 | no stars in the sky light up the evening glitter and paillettes | |
89 | Old man at the home — friends laugh in pictures at Christmas dinner | |
90 | our female firstborn . . . planting a lilli pilli | |
91 | our great earth mother shares secrets to keeping safe new world celebrates | |
92 | out of storage the dead dog’s Christmas collar | |
93 | out of tune the rusty horn still squeaks | |
94 | overcast evening kookaburra banters the Christmas garden party | |
95 | party in full swing I talk to the moon | |
96 | sharing champagne with a new lover the same moon | |
97 | Showers of stars Skyrockets ablaze, Hope for a new Year. | |
98 | silent night . . . three docs singing carols from ward to ward | |
99 | snowflakes carry moonlight to my hand | |
100 | spicy nachos a mexican wave rolls round our table | |
101 | spring birds reemerge to reanimate my world in celebration | |
102 | still ringing carol of the bells burned out church | |
103 | such a fuss on New Year’s Day little sparrows | |
104 | surprise party — the guest of honor first to arrive | |
105 | Thanksgiving Day — instead of a turkey this baby girl | |
106 | Thanksgiving Day we gather, celebrate being alive | |
107 | that time of year once again untangling the fairy lights | |
108 | the moon and I celebrate our scars — perigee moon | |
109 | the old man dancing with every lady who came to his last farewell | |
110 | The seventh year of Separation The repeated twinkling of the postman’s bell | |
111 | the sound of freedom and celebration | |
112 | To celebrate a miracle Eight candles blazing bright Respite from Winter’s dusky murk | |
113 | toy store buzzing with laughter National Kazoo Day | |
114 | trampled sunflowers kissing in Times Square | |
115 | twin rainbows a celebration of adjectives | |
116 | two homeless people at Christmas they put a plate for a homeless dog | |
117 | unwrapping her third extra-large pack of chocolates . . . gifts for adults | |
118 | Walking down the street with my shadow not feeling alone | |
119 | walking on the beach midnight sky, sea dark as ink we reach for the stars | |
120 | wedding anniversary bottle brush blooms join the party | |
121 | wedding day diamonds glisten atop the snow | |
122 | what a hoot! the laughter shared by candlelight | |
123 | white Christmas decorating Christmas tree without grandma | |
124 | wind in the willows no other life but this | |
125 | with a good mate a feast — praying mantis | |
126 | world championship no cause for celebration soccer in Qatar | |
127 | Xmas tree a moth enjoying a candy cane | |
128 | yuletide — the light glows outside and inside |
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!
