Last Chance to Vote in the October 2023 THF Monthly Kukai
This month’s theme:
reaping
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 divorce — reaping what I have sown | |
2 | a dribble to stem thirst the corn about ready for the reaching hand | |
3 | A life’s rich fields planted Tended and sown over decades Until Heaven reaps its reward | |
4 | a lilting dirge in the afterglow hand scythe | |
5 | a million blades of grass yet I pick just one | |
6 | a scythe slashes through sunlight — making hay | |
7 | after reaping in all its loneliness the scarecrow | |
8 | after reaping paddy — the field like the rising sun became the moon | |
9 | after the reapers come the gleaners my family | |
10 | all that we say the slow gathering of heart glow | |
11 | apple orchard carefully choosing my words | |
12 | as ye sow so shall ye reap, events in Gaza amply illustrate | |
13 | autumn coolness kneeling on the moss picking up acorns | |
14 | autumn equinox — we reap what we sow | |
15 | Autumn evening Alone scarecrow After reaping | |
16 | autumn harvest father no longer wants to eat | |
17 | autumn trees undress — a harvest for beetles and snails to feast on | |
18 | back and forth the scythe rhythm that holds the future . . . held in the moment | |
19 | back together hoping to see oranges on the lemon tree | |
20 | barn is full — no more tears on kids’ faces | |
21 | barren fields — the reaper grows more grim | |
22 | beachcomber . . . his harvest of flotsam | |
23 | beachcombing plastic now part of our nature | |
24 | bees rejoice as flowers offer a gathering | |
25 | below ground the burrows collapse wheat and chaff | |
26 | berry picking the children’s baskets just for fun | |
27 | bird’s eye chilies — a tiny harvest of bulbuls | |
28 | birds’ trills sink in the reaper’s rev smell of paddy | |
29 | bombed fields — a farmer reaps emptiness | |
30 | Buddha’s birthday — doctor tells father to cut the umbilical cord | |
31 | bumper harvest the rewards of self cultivation | |
32 | cawing crow reaping corn — harvest moon | |
33 | circular hay bales pink-wrapped the sun on the marsh mellows | |
34 | combine reduces the grain field — it’s time to cut my hair, too | |
35 | Crisp autumn orchard In full September splendor Yields her new bounty | |
36 | crop circles the continuing mystery of the reaper’s aim | |
37 | daybreak the sound of grain stalks against a sickle | |
38 | digging potatoes every scoop of dank earth . . . anticipation | |
39 | DIL — the worst Now I am the MIL Reaping what I’ve sown | |
40 | division sown now mankind is reaping war | |
41 | drop by drop . . . the river reaps a lullaby | |
42 | early morning winds giant oaks swaying gently reaping the soft light | |
43 | empty field sunlight’s last sheaves before dark | |
44 | escaping from vengeful scythe love dome | |
45 | family reaping with words of grace giving thanks | |
46 | farmer & reaper both wielding their scythes | |
47 | field full of shell-mowed bodies harvest moon | |
48 | fisherwomen gathering moonbeams off the water | |
49 | for a brief moment fireflies | |
50 | fourth gear fast reaping more than a thrill speeding ticket | |
51 | Fresh cut grass. Moss blanket on top small stone cross. | |
52 | From seeds in the compost bin, an unexpected harvest — squash soup! | |
53 | global consequences . . . little red hen too lacked moral qualities | |
54 | Gloomy sky dumped scarecrow in the stubble field | |
55 | golden wheat — the glimmering hopes in farmer’s palms | |
56 | grandma’s boss ignores her smell of sweat — she harvests his future | |
57 | grape harvest a scattershot of startles | |
58 | Grays melancholic I build sandcastles, reaping harvest, of daydreams | |
59 | hanging cat scare face! it’s eyes glow . . . harvest moon rising | |
60 | harvest moon a pear snack speeds up the kick count | |
61 | harvest moon I haven’t inherited mother’s sweet tooth | |
62 | harvest moon on the wire a string of birds | |
63 | harvest moon the patterns on your face | |
64 | harvest moon the prodigal son ponders husks | |
65 | harvest moon using corn silks to wig the pumpkin | |
66 | harvest season a farmer looks far and wide on the empty fields | |
67 | harvester’s overtime night shift werewolf moon | |
68 | hayrolls acre after acre moonrise | |
69 | high noon shadow of a low flying plane cuts me in one | |
70 | his hospice bed the harvest parable next to the pillow | |
71 | Hours spent on knees Tending to the soil and weeds Abundant harvest | |
72 | In the field moo cows Watching me harvest the hay Anticipation | |
73 | Ireland 2100 a scarecrow in the desert | |
74 | jack-o-lanterns the many faces of spring planting | |
75 | kept awake by the harvest moon and rumble of tractors | |
76 | late harvest — your summer hat on the stubble | |
77 | lavender reaping — the lines of my haiku too perfumed | |
78 | left standing a row of corn for deer | |
79 | mangoes taste sweeter of this tree . . . from a stranger tossed seed | |
80 | memories ears of wheat harvested at sunset | |
81 | midsummer night thousands and thousands of stars a great reaping | |
82 | my romantic reverie — a mango ripening to red | |
83 | National houses — They are repulsed by memories of the harvest Night frost | |
84 | Nature reaps as sows Man is natural Reaping as does all nature | |
85 | new digs pot of milk overflowing amidst flames | |
86 | New Year’s morning reaping the benefits as designated driver | |
87 | next year a gathering of rainbow soap bubbles | |
88 | nothing left but wheat stubble a field of crows | |
89 | nursing home only still in dreams reaping | |
90 | old hymn my son sings bringing in the sheep | |
91 | Old men and old women reaping memories before the sun sets. | |
92 | oppressive heat haggard street girl glittering coins | |
93 | paddy field the sun slips down her sickle | |
94 | Petals in the wind The Fifth Season God’s Smile The sparkler dances | |
95 | planting seeds one by one in the spring . . . fall cornucopia | |
96 | potato farmer digging clams between seasons | |
97 | purple twilight one with the land the reapers | |
98 | quickly reaping the final few roses before the first frost | |
99 | reaped harvest — my teenager says hello to the homeless woman we pass | |
100 | reaping a harvest people stand like stalks of wheat now it’s time to eat | |
101 | reaping an unexpected harvest . . . this diagnosis | |
102 | reaping fallen leaves the autumnal wind | |
103 | reaping from field to field the sickle moon | |
104 | Reaping harvest of memories long fallen silent | |
105 | reaping melody as the scythe swishes through — her moonlight | |
106 | reaping . . . rays of the autumn sun through trees | |
107 | reaping scythe the sickle moon crowns a scarecrow | |
108 | reaping the benefits of my cell phone . . . I crop a photo | |
109 | reaping the harvest . . . humming my dad’s song with my brothers | |
110 | reaping the reward fragrant around pergola — Kentucky bluegrass | |
111 | Reaping the silence, alone at last. | |
112 | recently LL.M holder — from his first income first savings | |
113 | red leaves floating in the watering pail — the kettle on for tea | |
114 | rippling wheat . . . reaping the harvest the farmer’s smiles | |
115 | scarecrow the waste from the reaping makes his hair flow | |
116 | scattering words upon a page hoping to reap a poem | |
117 | scooping up handfuls of his gooey smile — jack-o-lantern | |
118 | scything hay tired sunburned arms fields fallow soon | |
119 | scything the cornfields Death’s arms tire as the world nears its end | |
120 | shareholders reap profits . . . rivers still fill with sewage | |
121 | sickle moon the last calf left to the herd | |
122 | soft rhubarb the bittersweet taste of a door left ajar | |
123 | sowing love bittersweet mixture reaping hate | |
124 | splitsville an autumn harvest of peace | |
125 | spring rain . . . the yellow green aura of a weeping willow | |
126 | summer evening the combine harvesters’ slow dance | |
127 | summer heat he rushes from the garden bag overflowing | |
128 | summer night above the reaped field the sickle moon | |
129 | sunflower seeds . . . the sparrows’ slow reaping of winter light | |
130 | sweat beads reaping stars | |
131 | terrorists, terrorism in some parts of the world ‘you reap what you sow’ | |
132 | the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree harvest moon | |
133 | the list of one hundred forty-four thousand Ctrl+F | |
134 | the morning grass lies strewn over flat grey graves | |
135 | they chant while reaping earth’s changing soil see: dawn’s silhouette | |
136 | war zone reaping the harvest for no one | |
137 | We watch evil sowing. Eternal returns riddle | |
138 | West Indian cherries — while picking some ripe ones eyeing those fallen | |
139 | whatever we’ve sown heady though it might have been — we now have to reap | |
140 | wheat fields swaying to the reap of a scythe | |
141 | while eyes devour the moon night jasmine | |
142 | wildflower seeds . . . harvesting the memory of butterflies | |
143 | Winter eyes the Fall Looking to gather its life — to ready for Spring | |
144 | women singing reaping the harvest shehnai music (shehnai is an Indian musical instrument played in marriages and festivals) | |
145 | you shouldn’t sleep when it’s harvesting time |
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!
