THF Monthly Kukai — August 2022

 
 
Welcome to the THF Monthly Kukai.

This month’s theme:
water
 
 
 
Note: Anonymity is an essential part of any kukai. Please respect this to offer the reader (and voter) the opportunity to choose only the poem.

The THF Kukai Overview

A kukai is a (usually quite casual) poetry contest. The administrator of the kukai (that’s us) assigns a theme for a given writing period and posts to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) on the THF site, which is then redirected outward through our various media outlets. Poets write work to this theme during the allotted time and submit it to the administrator. The work submitted is gathered into an anonymous roster and posted to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) for public viewing. At that time all participating poets and other interested readers may vote for their favorites. Votes are tallied and the results made public. The top winners will be acknowledged each month, and offered their choice of prizes from a list compiled by the Foundation. Please remember that everyone who votes is a winner — the process of choosing your personal favorites is not just fun, but also one of the best ways to improve your own haiku practice!

Results of Last Month’s THF Kukai

theme: heat

In July there were 158 submissions from twenty-seven countries across five continents.
One hundred seventeen voters casting ballots determined the following results.

First Prize
hot flashes . . .
this climate change
inside me
     — Baisali Chatterjee Dutt (77 points - 8; 5; 4; 1; 3)
I have long held that metaphor alone is insufficient as a basis for haiku. To state simply that A is akin to B, in so brief a poetic form, must surely emerge as bland and one-dimensional. At least, that is the theory. But a rule of thumb is only that. Suppose that the metaphor is very personal, and very compelling –– and at the same time topical? Then we may just have a notable exception.
Second Prize
midsummer
the birdbath overflows
with sparrows
     — Nick T (74 points - 4; 6; 7; 4; 1)
This simple picture employs the word “overflowing” to double effect. It prompts the reader to see water spilling over (which no doubt it is) and then also an unexpected cascade of small birds. Besides evoking the time of year, it has a joie de vivre for which I cannot fully account. And so much the better.
Third Prize
deep summer
another bird drops out
of the morning chorus
     — Vandana Parashar (70 points - 6; 5; 3; 4; 3)
The dawn chorus reaches its peak in late spring and then declines, consistent with the fact that this riot of bird call is related to territory and mating. We must suppose that the observer here is closely familiar with this progression, in order to notice that one species in particular has fallen silent. In this way a single event –– one that is obscure to most of us –– serves to amplify the arrival of a whole season.
Fourth Prize
soaring summer sun . . .
the dog’s tongue
grows longer
     — James Zemke (69 points - 5; 6; 3; 4; 3)
The overt alliteration heard in the opening line works well for this particular poem. After that, the image of the panting dog –– for some reason I see it as loping along with its tongue hanging out further than usual –– achieves the rest. Does a dog’s tongue actually lengthen in such extreme conditions? Perhaps in some species it does.

Honorable Mentions
escaping the heat
I see my breath
in a winter poem
     — Suzanne Squires
I enjoyed the originality of this, with the heat being conveyed by contrast instead of by illustration or reinforcement.  A relatively cool room –– perhaps even a library –– is suggested, with the additional idea that reading about frost or snow is having a cooling effect on the reader. And the phrase “I see my breath” does more than that; it can be heard as evoking future winters, not merely past ones, thus endowing the poem with a larger place in time.
shimmering hills
an old sheepdog
melts into shadow
     — Gavin Austin
For me this exhibits the greatest depth among the haiku featured this month. The “shimmering hills” of the first line convey with originality the extreme heat of the day. This is echoed by “melts” further down –– with that word serving simultaneously to describe how the dog (which is probably black and white) moves into the shade and merges with it. The poem feels present-day on the face of it, and at the same time ancient. This is not often achieved in haiku, or in any genre.
evening heat . . .
mom holds my hands
one last time
     — Hifsa Ashraf

Remarks are by Dee Evetts, THF Monthly Kukai Commentator. He is an internationally known haiku poet and author of “The Conscious Eye” series on contemporary themes in Frogpond in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Writing for The Haiku Foundation Monthly Kukai

On the first day of each month The Haiku Foundation will announce the kukai theme for that month. This theme should be the topic of your poem, and may be stated (by using the theme word or words) or implied. Form may be traditional (three-line, 5-7-5) or free (various numbers of lines and/or syllables). Season words (kigo) may or may not be used at the poet’s discretion. A poet may submit one poem per theme. All poems must be the original, unpublished work of the author. In order to maintain the spirit and fairness of the kukai, a poem that has appeared anywhere with its author’s name cannot be allowed for submission.

Please use the Kukai submission form below to enter your poem, and then press Submit to send your entry. No other submissions will be recognized or honored. Once a poem is submitted it cannot be revised. All poems must be signed (that is, no “anonymous” poems will be accepted, and the Submit button will not be available until both Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in). Poets will not receive acknowledgment of their submissions. Poems will be accepted from the announcement of the theme through midnight of the 15th of that month. All poets are eligible to participate. Administrators of the kukai are ineligible to submit poems. Your submission form to us should look something like this:

line one
followed by line two
and then line three

or

this poem is all in one line

or

            jjjjjjjjjjj
kkkkkkkkkk
                    lll
   mmmmm

[all lines right-justified]

If your poem has special formatting requirements you should note them as in the third example above.

Good luck, and have fun!