Last Chance to Vote in the June 2022 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
sunshine
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 | 6 a.m., dense haze. Tiny yellow bird hops by — my ray of sunshine | |
2 | a break in the clouds beaming smile sunshine of my life | |
3 | a coyote still sings after sunrise heat index rises | |
4 | a pool of sunlight my damp feet drying in it | |
5 | a ray of sunshine pierces the dark clouds — my epiphany | |
6 | a summer night — light enough to fill a winter day | |
7 | a sunflower greeting the summer solstice with its one good eye | |
8 | a sunray connects the soul with the universe — loving energy | |
9 | a whiff of spring sunshine dog’s fur | |
10 | adding sunshine a day at a time until the summer soufflé | |
11 | after the storm a rainbow in sunshine I believe in hope | |
12 | after the storm the same new sunshine | |
13 | ain’t no sunshine in her vacant parking space | |
14 | an autumn sunset so many colors of light still ahead of me | |
15 | ancient castle between the turrets shafts of sun | |
16 | and now you and you only . . . sunshine | |
17 | back to school . . . a refugee child’s eyes fill with sunshine | |
18 | barred window — just for a little while the comfort of sunshine | |
19 | beached at high noon first frissons of love | |
20 | beehive . . . all the buzz around sunshine | |
21 | birch tree line flickers like an old super 8 film train ride to Paris | |
22 | bomb shelter a girl caresses her firefly the sunshine | |
23 | breaking through C-section walls . . . ray of sunshine | |
24 | buying sunshine at the nearest pharma vitamin d | |
25 | cancer ward . . . a burst of sunshine comes to visit | |
26 | canning day mason jars filled with sunshine | |
27 | captured in a bottle the sunshine on the vines | |
28 | chrysanthemums — a shaft of sunlight on headstones | |
29 | clear morning sky myriad of suns on dewy stubbles | |
30 | cloud, then sun — might the gates of heaven open to somebody? | |
31 | — dark clouds moving slowly out of the way | |
32 | dawn . . . paper-thin poppies bleed sunglow | |
33 | depression through the keyhole only one ray of life | |
34 | Do not come too close To me Because I will burn Regret hurts too much | |
35 | Dried rose plant started blooming in dark my heart full of sunshine . . . | |
36 | earthing barefoot . . . sunshine warms her glowing face | |
37 | empty bowl overflowing with sunshine | |
38 | evening sunshine river and riverbank share a beggar’s shadow | |
39 | familiar things the little patch of sunlight on his balding head | |
40 | fields of dandelions I spread soft butter on our sandwiches | |
41 | first outing how gently the sunshine caresses my baby | |
42 | first ray of sunshine in a suburban bakery last coffee | |
43 | — for Daddy! my son’s adding the sun to his drawing | |
44 | forest sunshine — laburnum petals shimmering in the dark | |
45 | forgetting the lyrics sunshine makes me sneeze | |
46 | forsaken moon he now calls me his sunshine | |
47 | fresh cherries the sunshine on their cheeks | |
48 | from my cat — the benefits of napping in sunlight | |
49 | frozen falls slowly the sunshine | |
50 | Glorious sunshine, Precious pink hydrangea, Soothe her fragile mind. | |
155 | good morning I talk to me sitting on the same bench . . . | |
51 | grandma’s tears as baby smiles just another day | |
52 | grief lifts when sun shines | |
53 | He burns hot and bright The incandescence of his smile | |
54 | heaped clouds crossing the sun the price of gas | |
55 | heat for an aching back gardening | |
56 | her royal highness our beauty queen of sunshine lights the road ahead | |
57 | her words talk something else but the sunshine through her hair | |
58 | Hidden in soil Soft colour grows Into sunshine | |
59 | high noon our dog Riga joyously welcoming the heat | |
60 | high noon sun . . . dueling shadows child’s play | |
61 | high UV index a completely crazed turkey cock has blushed | |
62 | His face, dark as thunder transforms to sunshine while playing in puddles | |
63 | his smile as warm as spring sunshine child beggar | |
64 | holding sunshine within itself — amber stone | |
65 | I wish inside-outside sunshine | |
66 | in a lumber room — at times a dusty sunshine ignites the old stove | |
67 | in a small sunbeam so much dust | |
68 | in the puddle blue sky and sun sparkles our parallel lives | |
69 | incestuous sun slowly turning in the clouds day moon | |
70 | into the sunrise a crow’s caw | |
71 | June sun — the ability of my invisibility | |
72 | just me in my room dancing with leaf shadows | |
73 | late afternoon sun becoming one with the shadows | |
74 | meadow sunshine i widen a belief | |
75 | melting ice . . . her new fountain pen glacier blue | |
76 | Memorial Wall . . . a ray of sunshine caressing my dad’s years | |
77 | morning meditation awoken by a ray of sunshine | |
78 | morning sun with all the warmth of a hug | |
79 | move my bed into the sun, birdsong | |
80 | not missing a thing summer sun | |
81 | ochre rockface the winter sun sharpening shadows | |
82 | old black and white the sunshine on his grin and his fish | |
83 | Ominous morning Blackened sky predicts rain, yet . . . Sliver of sunshine | |
154 | pale rays of the sun through the morning mist regaining my shadow | |
84 | polished floor a patch of sunshine slides | |
85 | Poolside bliss Pina colada Intoxicating sunshine | |
86 | raindrops on my Ray Ban’s sun shower | |
87 | rainy day . . . from a peach juicy sunshine | |
88 | ray of sunshine — in the fisherman’s boat the golden fish | |
89 | rays of morn pathway’s spaceless brim of walkie talkie | |
90 | receptive moon still water gratitude | |
91 | red sky how you colour my mourning | |
92 | rendezvous she dresses in denim sunshine at the table | |
93 | ripples of light a 5-year-old discovers strider-bugs | |
94 | rising sun clothesline rain beads one by one by one | |
95 | robins sipping sunlight from the rain-soaked lawn . . . how we drink in the day | |
96 | Room high above the sea Empty Save the echos of a secret love affair | |
97 | saturday morning the cat lies in the sunshine must be her day off | |
98 | scorched feet sandals left on blanket too late | |
99 | setting sun in my glass of rum island light | |
100 | sheer curtains her face half lit with morning sun | |
101 | single red tulip frosted by a dash of snow sun shines through dark clouds | |
102 | soothing my worries a friend’s fingers on my hand sunshine on my back | |
103 | Spring is the drop Going up Where she is from | |
104 | spring sunshine . . . missing my old :: young self | |
105 | Sun rain sun I hope for rainbows But there are none | |
106 | Sun tracks Near the window On the black face | |
107 | sunbathing on my favourite spot the lizard | |
108 | sundown the herb garden buzzing with old folk | |
109 | sunlight in my teaspoon — take me, if you can | |
110 | sunlight through slats choosing the bright side of the yin-yang | |
111 | sunlit pond the sway of a newt’s tail | |
112 | sunlit snow climbing down the mountain of our differences | |
113 | sunny bunnies baroque figures tremble gently | |
114 | sunrise – the fog of an intoxicating night descends | |
115 | sunshine a touch of butter on warm bread | |
116 | sunshine after all night rain a blackbird’s song | |
117 | Sunshine after the rain bliss | |
118 | sunshine chases me still a shadow | |
119 | sunshine gap the beetle passes through me | |
120 | sunshine in the spring air fine dust | |
121 | sunshine . . . its curve on her belly bump, on the tomb mound too | |
122 | Sunshine on hilltops — mountain cows return back — sound of bells | |
123 | sunshine on my smartphone display his message | |
124 | sunshine — one by one into limelight | |
125 | sunshine playing hide-and-seek with my mood | |
126 | sunshine somewhere dawn on Earth at that moment | |
127 | sunshine — the crack between the curtains migraine | |
128 | sunshine — the game of hide and seek | |
129 | sunshine . . . the nickname i always call him | |
130 | sunshine . . . the unpredictability of motherhood | |
131 | Taking a moment to let it soak in — sunshine | |
132 | the cries of gulls measured in units of warm sunshine | |
133 | the islands aloha forecast: liquid sunshine | |
134 | the light in his eyes brighter and brighter . . . sunshine | |
135 | the old painter framing the sun thousand paper cranes | |
136 | the spider web’s glow across the garden pathway — morning glories | |
137 | thin clothes — pandemic ain’t got no money no teeth but sunshine plenty | |
138 | three mallards sitting on white stones, slow river | |
139 | through the keyhole first ray of sunshine | |
140 | through the small holes in the minnow bucket pricks of sunshine | |
141 | toe-to-toe sunshine and oak their summer tango | |
142 | too late last night morning sunshine wakes me I lower the blinds | |
143 | too much sunshine soaking his burnt bits | |
144 | treetops through a green kaleidoscope the sunshine leaves | |
145 | twilight a tip of the peak on fire | |
146 | under the white pine a fuzzy duck feather glows amongst the needles | |
147 | vine-ripe tomato sinking my teeth into sunshine | |
148 | Warmth beyond measure Gentle blanket of good will Kiss of morning sun | |
149 | what sunlight can do . . . write an entire story on a steller’s jay wing | |
150 | windowless room — a false sun made by children`s hands | |
151 | winter sunset a cockatoo turns into glow | |
152 | winter sunshine the homeless man and I share a smile | |
153 | young mathematician ending the pi sequence a sunshine |
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!
