Last Chance to Vote in the May 2022 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
blossoms
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 blossomed twig taps against the window . . . mom still in coma | |
2 | a few of them drifting toward the delta magnolia petals | |
3 | a late frost, tulips (and other aspirations) nipped in the bud | |
4 | a rose blooms my son laughs in the morning | |
5 | a shower shaped from petals spring breeze | |
6 | abandoned garden magnolia blossoms fill the missile crater | |
7 | after he left his bouquet of red roses in silence | |
8 | after winter ice flowers blossom — bombs don’t melt | |
9 | afternoon heat . . . the air flavored in lavender | |
10 | against the decaying apple — blossoms | |
11 | all this ridiculous industry tangle of wisteria | |
12 | always beyond beauty hanami | |
13 | apple blossom supplanted for mischief bomb makers | |
14 | apple blossom breeze moonlight trickles down | |
15 | apple blossoms . . . could anyone really blame them | |
16 | apple blossoms near the stone chapel my father’s grave | |
17 | April cherry blossoms await wakeup call | |
18 | April first four-inch turkish weed towel covers the lawn | |
19 | as cherry petals fall the moonlit river blossoms pink | |
20 | as if it could hurt even a little cherry blossom | |
21 | as the rain starts falling the cherry blossoms start falling | |
22 | at the window a soundless pink knock dogwood blossoms | |
23 | at the window an apple blossom breeze whispering sweet nothings | |
24 | balmy night heady scent of jasmine braiding her hair | |
25 | beetles eat the moonflower all day long | |
26 | birdfoot violets . . . striving to tread lightly on this Earth | |
27 | bitter spring peace talks scattered with the blossom | |
28 | blossom beauty ends on the street | |
29 | blossom but no cherries maiden aunt | |
30 | blossomed wild cherry between the lines of the letter mother’s perfume | |
31 | blossoming cherry tree beyond words | |
32 | blossoms gone thirty pounds of honey for the winter | |
33 | blossoms my first thoughts about you | |
34 | blossoms the distant hum of a birthday song | |
35 | blue poppies her birthstone was sapphire | |
36 | bonsai blossoms all in one white-ish line | |
37 | Brazilian summer . . . petals of my verses her floral robe | |
38 | bud buds buds buds crocuses | |
39 | buds swell and, splitting, release their larger selves | |
40 | Chartreuse winks and pops — Spring on her tiptoes pushes her bud green blooms out! | |
41 | cherry blossoms i count the seconds in the radium room | |
42 | cherry blossoms linked to my heart that giddy feeling | |
43 | cherry blossoms pink yellow-gold sun on green grass tree of state mauled | |
44 | cherry goose blossoms poop | |
45 | comatose trees colour bursts of life seen eyes now Open | |
46 | dark blossoms . . . the words marked in yellow | |
47 | death threat the nectarine produces its first bud | |
48 | Delicate Blossoms, frozen in icy winter, Bitter old age. | |
49 | dogwood blossoms a plastic bag of crap makes me laugh | |
50 | drifting blossom the smooth surface of a child’s hand | |
51 | dust settles on the bouquets . . . silver wedding | |
52 | early evening the first few blossoms land in my lap | |
53 | elegant petals beneath the tropical sun smile at cloudy sky | |
54 | end of war — cherries in the cemetery all bloomed | |
55 | every fragility in full light . . . poppies | |
56 | fading blossom when her answer was just a smile | |
57 | falling almond blossoms a little more sky | |
58 | falling leaves, falling blossoms, and so on and so forth | |
59 | falling too quickly cherry blossoms crushed in the rubble | |
60 | family photo . . . among wilted blooms fresh blossom | |
61 | far from war . . . a keenly unique birdsong among the blossoms | |
62 | fertilizing minds in a silicone valley ideas blossom | |
63 | finally silence on both sides of the bridge wives with flowers | |
64 | first blossoms my baby voices mama | |
65 | first lilac bloom our teenager tells us she’s turning goth | |
66 | first pregnancy time for her to blossom | |
67 | First the smell Then the weeping cherry blooms Then the bees | |
68 | first time trying makeup, spring blossom | |
69 | flower moon in the tree’s silhouette a Magnolia blossom | |
70 | forever right now a twirling petal drifts in cherry blossom time | |
71 | forgetting who I am you call me blossom | |
72 | girl’s eyes among the blossoms orchard in Donbas | |
73 | head over heels blossoms | |
74 | hearing rape of the bud for ages courtroom | |
75 | her gifted blossoms . . . now i seek the company of thorns | |
76 | Hopes spring eternal Each year cherry blossoms April winds and they’re gone | |
77 | How lucky you are in your consciousness without thinking and ego! | |
78 | how soft your head on my chest lavender blossoms | |
79 | illuminating the paper lantern . . . white cherry blossoms | |
80 | imaginary you this void divided by cherry blossoms | |
81 | impatient crocus breaking too soon from the gate winter bides its time | |
82 | intoxicated my head drops over the scent of dead rose petals | |
83 | late spring frivolity | |
84 | life blossoms loving each other — no to wars | |
85 | light ruffled petals in lavender and shell pink spiny gnarled branches | |
86 | lilac blossoms longing for the little girl she once was | |
87 | lilies bloom — through a tilted window Moonlight | |
88 | Looking blossomful gnarly appletrees stand still for one more snowstorm | |
89 | lupin small roundness of the buzz of the bluff rattler | |
90 | magnolia blossom the daughter I never had | |
91 | may breeze — under the huge blue sky yellow scent | |
92 | Mayday the blackthorn’s sullied and may not yet out | |
93 | moon blossoms his scent on me the morning after | |
94 | moonrise the cherry blossoms’ silence deepens | |
95 | no mud, no lotus thich’s peace planet in pain, let’s love more than ever | |
96 | Not many to admire the wild blossoms with sweet unique fragrance . . . | |
97 | now that I’m older I have no words to describe the blossoms | |
98 | nursery blossoms — for every child a different nurturing | |
99 | old blossom tree childhood memories gets into my room | |
100 | one bee forages where white blossoms had been snows of yesteryear | |
101 | one little kiss now her mother too smells like a flower | |
102 | opening to life a bud in the sun first kiss | |
103 | orange blossoms memories of youth waft back | |
104 | Outside beckoning Waiting until the right time The flower unfurls | |
105 | park blossoms . . . my phone poised for the best flurry | |
106 | peach blossoms a new voice in the church choir | |
107 | peach blossoms bearing fruit how sweet success | |
108 | peach blossoms still rowing toward paradise | |
109 | Pink magnolia’s stunning blossoms, Nature’s remedy. | |
110 | plum blossom — she learns the virtue of perseverance | |
111 | plum trees last year’s and next year’s blossom with today’s | |
112 | quince blossoms my mother takes off her silk headscarf | |
113 | remembering mom’s wedding dress plum blossoms | |
114 | scattered blossom petals tell rainy winds tales | |
115 | Scent of warm musk rose Lingers on evening’s half light Transient joy | |
116 | seeing deeply into the wild violets the universe | |
117 | snowflakes in springtime single softly to the ground cherry blossoms | |
118 | soft and strong against spring rain — wild plum blossoms! | |
119 | soft light . . . an unfolding bud rocking with song thrush | |
120 | spent blossoms falling softly out of love | |
121 | spring blooming — blossoming buds budding blossoms | |
122 | spring blossoms . . . young doves coo amid war sirens | |
123 | spring honeysuckle welcome in my back yard | |
124 | spring in kindergartens blinks blossom from winter blues digging in garden | |
125 | Spring still holds its breath. Like us, the budding twig-ends yearn to be blossoms | |
126 | spring . . . the past blossoms time and again | |
127 | Spring’s beauty blooming in ambiguous circumstance | |
128 | spring’s bloom basketful of shades her colored flavours | |
129 | squash blossoms uncurling sunshine | |
130 | sunday marmalade discontent blossoms into memories of ma | |
131 | tattoo fever — one more plum blossom around her navel | |
132 | temple bells . . . the scattering of cherry blossoms | |
133 | the aftertaste of a remorse neem blossoms | |
134 | the blossom thief blows the scent of heaven around | |
135 | the fragrance of a shattered moon cherry blossoms | |
136 | the kamikaze a single blossom lets go twirling as it falls | |
137 | The serendipity of a lush pink magnolia. Dead end street. | |
138 | The sky is covered by pulsating stars — in a dream cherry blossoms | |
139 | the squeal of a peel out spring blossoms | |
140 | The sun-kissed Gulmohar blossoms — Soul’s delight. | |
141 | this graveyard in May thrusting from the greening ground gray headstones blossom | |
142 | through cherry blossoms the tinkle of her anklet | |
143 | Tulips a-bloom: Riotous colors shouting LOOK HERE! . . . oh, look here | |
144 | Ukraine — may apple trees blossom in peace this month | |
145 | under a calm sky plenty of dandelions on the graves by the road | |
146 | underfoot the sweet smelling muck of cherry blossoms | |
147 | war debris . . . a softer broom for cherry blossoms | |
148 | white blossoms fill the river valley wild plums | |
149 | wild flowers refugee girls spins hula hoops | |
150 | wildflowers — the life we live without excuses | |
151 | winter my head putting pink in the trees | |
152 | With friends In the springtime canyons of the southwest He blossoms | |
153 | within petals of a blooming bud I am nectar unseen and untouched |
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!
