Last Chance to Vote in the February 2021 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
diligence
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.
The Ballot
1 | a bee sucks honey from a rose without spoiling it | |
2 | a cormorant ready for the catch the photographer | |
3 | a ladybug in my window box I dot my i’s | |
4 | a little sparrow prepares to take off from grandma’s hands | |
5 | After snow storm skating on ice winter fun | |
6 | after the earthquake a barn swallow family repairing their nest | |
7 | after the stroke dad’s vocal practice sound by sound | |
8 | “amanda’s magic” queen of the muses poetic justice revered love can reach us now | |
9 | an old man kneels in the tea garden scratching at the weeds | |
10 | another Sunday . . . placing fresh carnations beside his name | |
11 | ant crept on a branch carrying a loaf of bread | |
12 | ant trail — a cracked watermelon leaves on a long journey | |
13 | At five each morning My part of the world’s asleep And I write alone | |
14 | at winter’s close how carefully she pens her farewell note | |
15 | autumn hills changed colors I’m still a fool for you | |
16 | autumn homework — the ants are carrying grain after grain | |
17 | backspace — writing one more time my story | |
18 | been writing haiku going on fifty-five years . . . still counting fingers | |
19 | beneath the floorboards of the old homestead — squirrels’ cache | |
20 | building site blocking the horizon view a spider’s web | |
21 | burdened workers whirring blossom to flower . . . deliver the queen’s gold | |
22 | chest compressions the patient starts to breathe again a nurse’s sigh of relief | |
23 | Cloak of diligence . . . the nurses’ constant combat with the Covid scourge | |
24 | cold moonlight a street musician’s last song without audience | |
25 | Counting loose change On the kitchen table For the third time | |
26 | daily practice preparing for adventure | |
27 | day job a bread crumb moves slowly in a line of ants | |
28 | diligence is nothing . . . just a life of a honey bee | |
29 | diligence she does her job despite her misgivings | |
30 | diligence was his watchword though bright he couldn’t reach the top — deprived of the precious favor | |
31 | don’t worry immortality is just one more poem | |
32 | due diligence bees buzzing from blossom to blossom | |
33 | evening breeze my gardener’s hands shielding a dandelion clock | |
34 | every day I sit Spring Summer Fall Winter, Why? no reason needed | |
35 | every noon he waters the roses . . . cutting days in half | |
36 | expressing milk every hour the intensive care fridge | |
37 | farewell . . . she wears my ring | |
38 | flowering diary — petal by petal all duties fulfilled | |
39 | for once I allow the cobwebs to live a fair diligence | |
40 | four leaf clover — looking for luck in the hay wagon | |
41 | From dawn until dusk Scrounging twigs, yarn, tufts of grass The jay weaves its nest | |
42 | garden bed the ants and me digging all day | |
43 | girlfriend’s coming spiders run away from my tidy up apartment | |
44 | grain by grain the sparrow beaks with diligence | |
45 | grandad seeing God’s design in every furrow | |
46 | great diligence — all the bees in the field only drones in the hive | |
47 | great nation how they rush back and forth the ants | |
48 | hands sanitiser, masks, keys and wallet — I wish I was a free bird | |
49 | hard work long ago blesses today | |
50 | Her heart was beating with a careful persistence Love song’s percussion | |
51 | high summer the bumble bee drops an octave | |
52 | his deft hands in the weeds garden . . . the hobo decamps | |
53 | his ears licked spotless the diligent tiger cat purrs in his sleep | |
54 | holiday farm the sheepdog herds the hikers | |
55 | home inspection — I take the field mouse back to the field | |
56 | honeymoon in my secret bag mom’s diary | |
57 | hurry home, young quails I have the hounds on hold! | |
58 | icy forest walk with a dried up old pen pressing harder | |
59 | labour . . . pushing for hours, and yet stillborn words | |
60 | late evening steadily covers the snow the garden’s path | |
61 | line of ants . . . even as one falters the others step in to support | |
62 | message from the wind worker ants running around a warm and quiet room | |
63 | metronome practice — trying to keep up in three-quarter time | |
64 | Midnight, all is well The stillness of no riots Means our cause was just | |
65 | moss in their beaks chickadees fly back and forth nest building | |
66 | mulberry leaves — diligent silkworm weaves its cocoon | |
67 | new construction top floor still under the sky on the first floor parquet | |
68 | new diopter — the buzzing of the vacuum clear and my nerves | |
69 | new habits met with pompous resistance vices deft, vigorous | |
70 | new moon — at midnight, she starts cookie decoration | |
71 | new variant more human friendly flavored pill | |
72 | on hold . . . I revise a doodle | |
73 | oppressive night — a breeze from the fans stirring up chitchat | |
74 | Ox in a harness even the most diligent are motivated | |
75 | pajama zipper knotted fingers unspool thread the eye of years past | |
76 | pandemic the heart-warming zeal of an overtime nurse | |
77 | persevering each to her own highest mountain | |
78 | Pregnant pause, Nine months later the idea Was delivered. | |
79 | pruning shears the shape of life in shape | |
80 | pumpkin leaf the slug crafts a love symbol | |
81 | rainstorm — a man continues to plough the field | |
82 | rainy day . . . an ant climbs up the wall again | |
83 | revolving door Alcoholics Anonymous this time for sure | |
84 | rush hour a swarm of bees foraging on linden flowers | |
85 | same music on the piano keys . . . woodpecker at the tree | |
86 | scarecrow — standing guard in the snow | |
87 | scuffed tile the nurse’s dash to code blue | |
88 | sea at twilight and still a fish crow ashore | |
89 | Segregating rice from plate of stones to be cooked | |
90 | (s)he steadfastly learned Prince Hamlet’s soliloquy — que sera, sera | |
91 | Since early summer Food, treats, but still so skittish feral kittens | |
92 | snowy day the terrier tries to keep up | |
93 | soldiers never die in eternal vigilance — sentinel’s creed | |
94 | squirrels eye the bird feeder measuring angle and arc | |
95 | still sitting still waiting still smiling | |
96 | stillness in motion — the heron stalks its prey | |
97 | “Strive on with diligence,” said Buddha. Motivated, disciplined, devoted, responsible, with full concentration, she is the first in her family. Spring graduation from the university. | |
98 | that apple still on the tree if only . . . | |
99 | the last train . . . nuts and bolts in trackman’s dream | |
100 | their lullaby for my afternoon nap . . . busy bees | |
101 | tiny homemade envelopes my dad’s stamp collection diligence with tweezer | |
102 | tireless — mother’s caresses polishing my character | |
103 | to gather pick out through attentive effort words of love due care | |
104 | top of mountain — from my hiking boot an ant descends | |
105 | treading waves until the sand banks rise to meet you | |
106 | two ants from apposing ends of the grasshopper | |
107 | unblinking watch over ripening corn crop scarecrow | |
108 | uncle jack’s hammer he never quite fixed that loose head | |
109 | understanding why he does what he does the snail climbing Mt. Fuji | |
110 | Uprooted A tree unmoored Time to replant | |
111 | waggle dance diligence conveys the way to get there | |
112 | washing each utensil meticulously | |
113 | weaving for the next life — a caterpillar | |
114 | weekend homework he asks me the meaning of “diligence” from bed | |
115 | with a soft voice the nurse dresses an invisible wound | |
116 | without halting the line of worker ants carries food away | |
117 | work-from-home her frown eases off on the last mouse click | |
118 | Years in the making Millions of workers Termite mound | |
119 | yet another attempt at baked eggplant — dredging up a smile |
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!
