Last Chance to Vote in the March 2023 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
grass
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 blade of grass sprouts from a damp sponge — winter windowsill | |
2 | a caterpillar on a grass . . . greener | |
3 | a chequered life seeing the best and worst of human nature | |
4 | a cicada’s song amongst the waves of grass I Odysseus | |
5 | a dewdrop on each blade of grass our time in the sun | |
6 | a garish moon, tipsy cicadas’ drunken chorus the calming, the susukis | |
7 | a haiku workshop participants in the classrooms poets on the grass | |
8 | a neighbor’s puppy jumping in the grass . . . sparkling drops | |
9 | a summer gift — the intoxicating scent of freshly baled hay | |
10 | acred empty fields dry canal laden with weeds, deserted farming | |
11 | after the promise grass climbs through the cracks | |
12 | after the stars have been with the grass dewdrops | |
13 | all day rain reason for emerald greenness | |
14 | artificial grass confused birds look elsewhere | |
15 | baby panda — she weaves an Easter basket | |
16 | barefoot on the grass I stretch my arms upwards . . . how to be a tree | |
17 | Beneath full Worm Moon and the blizzard’s glowing gifts brown grass squirms to life | |
18 | Beneath tawny blades, Verdant fresh tender new life Awaits the Sun’s warm kiss. | |
19 | bitter patience melding with little hope at the grassroot level | |
20 | blade of grass — life whittled down to its whistle | |
21 | bluegrass swaying to the beat of a spring breeze | |
22 | border grass . . . the turkey chases a hammock | |
23 | break-up straightening grass behind us | |
24 | bullrush grass tips once touched my chin now touch my knees | |
25 | calm sea of grass where we all came from | |
26 | Chewing on the sweet Ends of field grass as the Tassels tickle | |
27 | childhood memories — the scent of freshly cut grass in my nostrils | |
28 | city dwellers . . . the billowing scent of fresh cut grass | |
29 | clipped grass — the euphoric scent of spring fever | |
30 | compact and united bending and then getting back up — leaves of grass | |
31 | concrete outside a butterfly resting on the last blade of grass | |
32 | conservation park . . . a field of native grasses wait for the wildlife | |
33 | constellations of crabgrass on the midsummer lawn expanding universe | |
34 | cool zephyr breeze flows over tender grasses goose pimples, giggle. | |
35 | country walk on pause stopping to shoot the heads off plantain grass | |
36 | cows standing by road mooing at cars from tall grass honking horns all day | |
37 | crafty granny hides the green eggs in the clover | |
38 | crisp yellow grass touches moist dark soil in a loving embrace | |
39 | crossing the border grass on the other side the same green | |
40 | dawn hush each blade of grass with its weight of snow | |
41 | Deep in a grey winter, she paints green grass and flowers | |
42 | delicately slender new narrow green arcs staccato all together waving in Spring | |
43 | Dew drops Still shining On the grass | |
44 | dewdrops on dancing blades water, light, air and earth diurnal morning musings | |
45 | dewy grass . . . worried about crushing of star | |
46 | don’t leave butterfly even the grass is lonely | |
47 | drought grass brown until rain resurrection and the life | |
48 | early summer . . . our thoughts go barefoot through grass | |
49 | Eat or smoke it’s a generational thing grass | |
50 | election season a spurt of congress men and grass | |
51 | endless grass mowing with the light on green | |
52 | fallen petals glimpse of perpetuity lowly grass | |
53 | Few drops on the grass Shimmer in the morning light As the sun rises | |
54 | fish fair feeding my grass carps for the last time | |
55 | frogs concealed in the grass butter is melting | |
56 | frosted field every blade diamond set | |
57 | funeral . . . the widow folding the scent of freshly cut grass | |
58 | Grandpa’s mud house — the roof of dried grass fixes ventilation | |
59 | grass covered her name . . . tears in the eyes | |
60 | grass going to seed his five o’clock shadow | |
61 | grass its first blades slice the spring air | |
62 | grass meadow . . . a yellow wildflower gets pulled in the cow’s bell | |
63 | grass smoking out the punkies | |
64 | grass whistle the sound tickles my lips | |
65 | grasslands . . . the cows and I chew and chew | |
66 | green apples . . . just one in a bushel full of regrets | |
67 | green grass beneath bare feet the softness of summer | |
68 | green grass of home the buyer start a bidding war | |
69 | green pathway I remove my slippers before the temple | |
70 | grew from sea to sea, paved over for new wealth, you just called me grass. | |
71 | he still looks for grassroots on Mars | |
72 | Heads above fence silky fronds float on breeze noxious weed. | |
73 | heatwave on both sides of the border dried feather reed | |
74 | heatwave withers all hope | |
75 | Heeling The barefoot Grass . . . | |
76 | Her diversity between grass and flowers Sun smiles her | |
77 | hidden in tall grass the snake that shed its skin | |
78 | Humanity the only fallen flower ruffles the garden | |
79 | I used to lie down On a bed of Grass Youth said to Age | |
80 | In my backyard I smoke summer grass — nothing happens | |
81 | in the young grass at the meadow’s edge — our two bikes | |
82 | irresistible force blades of grass through the pavement | |
83 | just spring under the bare feet the hungry grass | |
84 | last week’s full green withering and dry now for his trample | |
85 | Laughter fills the halls We enter the banquet room Everyone sips wine | |
86 | lay me among the prairie grasses so fragrant after rain | |
87 | leaning back, she picks at the limp grass, and she waits for a proposal | |
88 | left foot right trudges mud, back harnessed, plow in tow she readies rice fields | |
89 | light breeze . . . fragrance of spring on the grass | |
90 | long lost lawn petrichor | |
91 | longing for a patch of grass — war rubble | |
92 | lovers in the park a dragonfly decides another blade of grass | |
93 | Lush vibrant and green The abandoned house unkempt Beautiful eyesore | |
94 | lying in the grass — a book by Walt Whitman next to me | |
95 | lying in the grass gazing into lazy skies white dragons tumble | |
96 | manicured lawn two old ladies in slippers | |
97 | many days . . . each blade of grass represents a day | |
98 | marram grass holds back the sea the relentless sea | |
99 | morn in the grass — in each dewdrop sparkles one sun at a time | |
100 | morning dance swaying in the wind pampas grass | |
101 | Morning dew Teardrops on grass blades Dream bubbles | |
102 | Morning grass Touches my feet I am in heaven | |
103 | morning walk dew sprinkled grass tickling the soles | |
104 | motherless fawn I let the grass in my lawn grow | |
105 | motorcycle mantra: GRASS, GAS, OR ASS — NO ONE RIDES FOR FREE | |
106 | mowing my neighbor’s grass — temporary truce in the turf war | |
107 | my cat shows me what she thinks of her diet — globs of grass | |
108 | nearly spring . . . the greening lawn surrounds crocus blooms | |
109 | new grass blades . . . an expanding universe of sunshine | |
110 | new mown grass — my nemesis aaachoo! | |
111 | nibbling bunnies encourage new spouts | |
112 | on frosted grass children forget their way to school | |
113 | on the grass tiptoeing moonlight — her hand in mine | |
114 | on the other side ides of march have come and gone where the grass grows green | |
115 | our neighbor’s grass the length of his prison sentence | |
116 | out of hospital so much greener the spring grass | |
117 | parental home just the trampled grass left behind | |
118 | plucking grass every flower will bloom when it’s time | |
119 | poem unfinished — setting sun’s rays on uncut grass | |
120 | rainy spring days the rawer green grass of the war zone | |
121 | remember nothing on her fingers smell of wild grasses | |
122 | rewilding the sound of grass growing | |
123 | rolling a joint aint what it used to be aspirin moon | |
124 | rummaging through the thick grass jellybean | |
125 | salt marsh . . . how tall the cordgrass, again, low tide | |
126 | Sea grass roots hold fast. Standing up to wind and tide. Keeping sure, the shore. | |
127 | season over — yellow grass squares in a silent campsite | |
128 | seeing my true colors dewy grass | |
129 | silent chimes urged on by waving grasses | |
130 | smoking a little too much grass lingering days | |
131 | smoking grass I wind my way along a neural pathway | |
132 | soft whispers across the grassy knoll spring breeze | |
133 | somewhere here a saxon king’s hall wind-blown grasses | |
134 | spring at last cows in the field kissing the grass | |
135 | spring fashion my kids trousers full of grass stains | |
136 | spring grass autumn fields, a fallen poet in grief — the snowing flowers. | |
137 | spring green grass and wild flowers flourish super bloom | |
138 | spring rabbit, rabbit the pennycress fairies whisper in the grass | |
139 | stay green forgive us our trespasses | |
140 | stubble at the homeless man’s grave hallowed be thy name | |
141 | sultry summer sun hovering over meadows the sound of bluegrass | |
142 | sun kissed grass in a molehill’s shadow a patch of snow | |
143 | sunny backyard left behind half eaten grass a little rabbit | |
144 | sunshine today you can almost hear grass growing moles mole it | |
145 | swaying grass out of the blue a lullaby | |
146 | sweetgrass basket . . . skills the slave ships couldn’t erase | |
147 | sweltering heat on her nature strip yellow grass | |
148 | tall blades grown nearly sky high grassroots level | |
149 | tall summer grass reclaiming the abandoned parking lot | |
150 | the garden greening again my old hands | |
151 | The rabbits, nibbling select the finest grasses: Salad bar open! | |
152 | the scent of cut grass — memories of Dad | |
153 | the snakes among us nutgrass | |
154 | the Sunday morning smell of grass | |
155 | the wind in the grasses her mood swings | |
156 | The wind whistles louder Over wild, brute beasts And blades of grass | |
157 | the woman reads a letter over the grass blades of moonlight | |
158 | this blade of grass she picks one in a million | |
159 | this day all those lives that fell apart on this grass | |
160 | trampled grass . . . on a tree trunk two initials | |
161 | turning out day a spring in the step of every cow | |
162 | turtles grazing the sea meadow flowers . . . an ocean nursery | |
163 | two sunflowers one in the tall grass sunset | |
164 | unbearable the last day pain raw green | |
165 | undulating grass in rhythm to the caress of a restless wind | |
166 | unkempt lawn . . . those promises unmade | |
167 | uprooted grasses now covering all the scars of that hit | |
168 | Waiting for you with the stubborn quality of trampled grass | |
169 | waiting to throw off the covers my lawn | |
170 | war — in the tall grass a ball | |
171 | war time — this spring the grass is red | |
172 | Water drops spatter, Kissing bare feet when I Walk calm on wet grass. | |
173 | watering the crabgrass behind the For Sale sign | |
174 | waving blades of grass wind disguises a movement snake wakes from slumber | |
175 | weeding he learns diversity | |
176 | wild grass dew drops are new every morning | |
177 | wild grasses the breath of the wind In her light hair | |
178 | windy day the long grass directing the clouds | |
179 | winter fog nursing the grass to spring | |
180 | Winter, halfhearted Falling apart or falling together, Still not dead yet | |
181 | words appeared today please do not walk on the grass leaders are readers | |
182 | yellow ribbons the hope I find in dandelions |
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!
