Last Chance to Vote in the February 2026 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
medal
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 broken promise St. Christopher still swaying from the shattered mirror | |
2 | a copper medal — ending thirty years sweeping floors | |
3 | a coveted medal post accident . . . first sunrise | |
4 | a folded flag two medals twelve years gone | |
5 | A lifetime’s blood somehow fits inside this metal circle | |
6 | a long day bragging about their victories, heroes of someone else’s war | |
7 | a medal for bravery on an empty chest | |
8 | a podium In the snow-capped mountains on top of the world | |
9 | a short story many springs ago — rusty medal | |
10 | a soldier’s story — in a hospital locker box with medals | |
11 | A uniform’s medal, Glory stained in bloody tears — Was it worth the price? | |
12 | a veteran with a lifetime service a service dog | |
13 | after eighty years his medal was lost in the down sizing | |
14 | airport false panic as young snowboarding hero hides his bronze medal | |
15 | altar queue burnt palm fronds and oil proclaim | |
16 | angkor wat an amputee folk band’s absence of medals | |
17 | at the dawn parade she wears grandfather’s medal red poppy | |
18 | autumn leaves . . . the first medals for the toy soldiers | |
19 | award ceremony the child gives me a dandelion | |
20 | battlefield — at the throat of a cross a Purple Heart | |
21 | begging bowl the monkey with a stick begs for prizes | |
22 | bent as one bowing, tarnished | |
23 | blood, sweat and tears medals on display pawnshop window | |
24 | breath, white against sky lightening to dawn, golden sun — medal rising | |
25 | bright soldier’s medal summer’s gift from robber crow lying on green moss | |
26 | but his best medal took form as his daughter’s arms wrapped around his neck | |
27 | carousel music my daughter grabs the brass ring | |
28 | carving constellations in the frozen lake figure skater | |
29 | clearing Dad’s house in the sock drawer his medals | |
30 | commemoration plaque . . . a map lichen remembers the ashes | |
31 | cup final my father’s name on the reverse side | |
32 | dad’s medals stored in a drawer so much unsaid | |
33 | Dead rat on the doorstep. My cat rewards me for feeding her. | |
34 | death by tank his purple heart brother my father halved | |
35 | decluttering items of inheritance rusting memories | |
36 | defeat has a taste dressed up as expectations second-place medal | |
37 | dew falling from rusty barbed wire — longest day | |
38 | diminishing oneself before the world second-hand medal | |
39 | directly injected into the muscle gold medal dreams | |
40 | dishonorable discharge . . . wearing his pink bra under the medals | |
41 | doctored record a purple heart for bone spurs | |
42 | dry leaves cartwheel west one foot on the podium | |
43 | dusting his medals gently . . . memorial day | |
44 | empty wheelchair a veteran’s medal in fish tank | |
45 | Enthusiasm Branches swaying as ribbons Alas! Fleeting colours | |
46 | evacuation his medals we left behind | |
47 | evening before . . . in the competition pool silver moon | |
48 | Every child gets a medal expected | |
49 | Everything it took Commitment made visible Medal on coffin | |
50 | fallen soldier the weight of the medal in her palms | |
51 | fastest farthest best in show medal winner | |
52 | father’s hand the dull weight of a son’s medal | |
53 | father’s medals — a life etched in brass | |
54 | first day of school a plastic medal already scratched | |
55 | first gold on morning lapel — sun | |
56 | first light extends across borders — her green medallion shows | |
57 | first Olympics — she eyes the medals not the grace | |
58 | flower show — the gold medallion takes first prize | |
59 | full moon on the night I am born — my first medal | |
60 | game over . . . a paper gold medal from her mother | |
61 | Glory and dashed dreams on a ribbon round my neck — second-place medal. | |
62 | gold circling the athlete’s chest . . . winter skies | |
63 | gold medal flower sleeping roses dusted with snow | |
64 | gold medals every flower turn back to the sun | |
65 | gold, silver, bronze fighting for a medal one count too many | |
66 | gold, silver, bronze — hues of nature all appear the same under snow | |
67 | Golden memories Shine like a medal of honourable moments. | |
68 | grieving in peace — the missing jingling of dog tags | |
69 | he won her heart felt but not framed no medal | |
70 | heavy around our necks the medal’s tarnish | |
71 | her medal denied all her sacrifice for naught because of pronouns | |
72 | Heroes Day the father’s medals on his son’s chest | |
73 | higher . . . further . . . faster never losing its lustre man’s quest for gold | |
74 | his son gets the medal his daughter the flag | |
75 | hold a teardrop in your hand a purple heart | |
76 | home from war mother’s love better than any medal | |
77 | homeless his medal shining in the moonlight | |
78 | hospice — the war veteran plays with his medal | |
79 | hunger moon leaving the pawn shop his purple heart | |
80 | ice skater twirling pillow of first-place gold for speed | |
81 | ice storm deserving medals Renee Good & Alex Pretti | |
82 | in February’s black sky a white medal the snow moon | |
83 | in little hands the weight of dad’s purple heart | |
84 | In the cold we stood Whatever do we want? A Medal? No! Just their Freedom | |
85 | ingrained in amber a token of nature’s grief a speck of old leaf | |
86 | jumping frog race her victory giggles on way back home | |
87 | Laurel of Daphne metamorphic transcendence . . . Olympian dreams | |
88 | leaf medal the glowing lines of light in my father’s eyes | |
89 | life — my grandfather’s Olympic medal in a pawnshop | |
90 | magnificent laurel leaf I have never felt the need to win a medal | |
91 | magpies’ battle — in the open window a medal glints | |
92 | medal in the button box unassuming price | |
93 | medal my gold earrings of dissent | |
94 | Medal awarded The victors smile, infectious My loss brought joy | |
95 | medal awarded posthumously he never talked about it | |
96 | medal of honor losing count of lucky stars | |
97 | medal-less life I hug my mother for her tolerance | |
98 | medalled wine — the jury checking the cobweb | |
99 | medallists receiving their metals pyramid snap | |
100 | mettle bows the neck gold heart | |
101 | migrating monarchs everyone receives participation medals | |
102 | missed a medal a runner who helped the one that fell | |
103 | most behaved she receives her first ribbon with an impish grin | |
104 | my past erased like a blank medal alumni website | |
105 | NATO summit — a soldier throws away his service medals | |
106 | no medal pinned to the chest after it’s over custody battle | |
107 | Nobel flakes precipitate out of acid and war to be recast | |
108 | old bronze medal its story shifts in sunlight | |
109 | old medal in hand . . . dusty ribbon and faded gold memories of youth | |
110 | old photograph — among her five sons Mum, wearing a medal | |
111 | on a red ribbon a good conduct medal on a dead soldier | |
112 | on her sari silver shine of merit his gentle pin | |
113 | on her sleeve Grandpa’s Purple Heart as a tattoo | |
114 | on his toy soldier grandad’s war medal . . . red poppies | |
115 | on his wounded chest still shining the medal of life | |
116 | on the beach a miniature skull medal of death | |
117 | on the podium Milan Olympics gold medal winner | |
118 | open arms the medal of Mary on her breast | |
119 | our puppy medals in piddles on our plants | |
120 | out of bronze battles my heart dons a gold medal — stillness in silver | |
121 | pacemaker: getting his medal for lifetime achievement | |
122 | package returned unopened — his war medals. | |
123 | papa’s medals from WW II for what | |
124 | pasting a tin medal his dad made to the stray cat’s bandana | |
125 | posthumous — her thumb warms his face in the medal | |
126 | proudly worn each remembrance day dad’s medals | |
127 | purple heart . . . not all wounds are visible | |
128 | red poppies the widow traces the medal of her husband | |
129 | Religious medal Clung to perspirated chest Tumored lungs quietly quit | |
130 | results table . . . no one remembers 4th the way 5th does | |
131 | Running in a race Making it to the finish Medal for last place | |
132 | rusting stars in the bottom drawer Dad’s medals | |
133 | Saint Christopher’s medal and a hug I bid him goodbye | |
134 | shadow box filled with granddad’s medals World War 2 | |
135 | she with his medal hang it on their cherry tree or in his coffin? | |
136 | shining in the moonlight his amulet | |
137 | silence of silver buried in peace | |
138 | silver medal found on beach sailor’s lucky charm | |
139 | silver medal his clap net fills up with hilsa | |
140 | silver medal a tarnished land | |
141 | Sky is raining. Gold medals of the stars. Moistened my void. | |
142 | snow moon the sprinter’s medal hangs on a hook | |
143 | snowflakes the winners’ medals plated with silver | |
144 | solitary struggle — in the empty breast silver moon medal | |
145 | spring rush — kerria and daffodils competing for gold | |
146 | still hanging on the cobwebbed wall . . . father’s war medals | |
147 | storm — tearing away a peace medal Epstein’s files | |
148 | sun sheen caught in windowpanes — silence of warplanes | |
149 | sunset on the lake melting into silence the rower’s last medal | |
150 | taps echos her mournful heart tears on his Purple Heart | |
151 | tarnished medal in a thrift store case the sum of one life | |
152 | thanksgiving day — grandmother cleans the medals | |
153 | the best gold medal at the Olympics the world boos | |
154 | the bowerbird a nest with the best medals wins a mate | |
155 | the dark side of dad’s top war medal — a disability mirror | |
156 | the dropped baton in the exchange zone going for gold | |
157 | the green frog leaps from log to bottom of pool gold medal diver | |
158 | the medal he never wore purple heart | |
159 | the rhythm method youngest from a family of ten | |
160 | the sun mirrored in grandpa’s medals . . . spring-cleaning | |
161 | The Victoria Cross — hidden in the drawer for fifty years . . . | |
162 | the weight of sacrifice purple heart | |
163 | this age-worn coin has passed through many hands — and now mine | |
164 | thrift store sale — a medal in its box untouched | |
165 | toothy grin a young child receives his award | |
166 | trash can light medalist sleeping cold park bench | |
167 | tribute brave heart in spades | |
168 | two sides of the same coin light and darkness | |
169 | Ukraine’s pride in Hero’s helmet beats winning Olympic medal | |
170 | War At home Medal lost | |
171 | wet streetlamps decorate the blue neck of midnight | |
172 | wooden house ablaze in his blackened, shaking hands an Olympic medal | |
173 | wrinkled face — victories of my mom on every line | |
174 | You won me over You saved your ego, not us A medal for pride | |
175 | your medal and my medal don’t drink together | |
176 | Your medal glints softly — As if to fill the night You left behind. |
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!
