THF Monthly Kukai — July 2024

 
 
Welcome to the THF Monthly Kukai.

This month’s theme:
green
 
 
 
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: corn

In June there were 164 submissions from twenty-eight countries across four continents.
One hundred three voters casting ballots determined the following results.

Before my comments on this month’s poems, I want to thank you for the kind words of welcome last month. It’s been a joy to see the creativity and range in responses to each month’s theme, and I look forward to reading your haiku in the months to come. — Bev

First Prize
 
empty cornfield
the scarecrow’s shadow
growing longer 
     — Neil Clarke (62 points - 4; 6; 3; 4; 1)
 
The purpose of scarecrows is to discourage crows and other birds from feeding on crops. When the cornfield is bare — all the corn harvested — it serves no purpose. Its day has passed. In this haiku, that passing is reflected not only in the bare field but also — and most effectively — in the lengthening shadow. Shadows change throughout the day and with the seasons. They're also more apparent when not obscured by ripening corn stalks. The long shadow in the last line deepens the autumnal feeling created in the first line.
 
Second Prize (tie)
 
buttered cobs . . .
sinking our teeth
into summer
     — Barrie Levine (55 points - 1; 8; 2; 5; 2)
 
What a delicious experience! Anyone who has tasted corn fresh from the field, slathered with butter, immediately gets this haiku. It is the epitome of summer, as the last line asserts.  This haiku also brings multiple senses to bear:  taste in the richness of the butter and the crunch of the corn; touch or a tactile response to the butter’s slickness (no one can eat corn on the cob without getting greasy fingers!); and sight in the golden yellows of butter, corn, and sun.
 
Second Prize (tie)
 
corn rows
the hairstylist talks
her ears off
     — Yvonne Cabalona (55 points - 3; 6; 3; 2; 3)
 
This made me laugh out loud. From what I understand, it can take hours to create or style a head of cornrows, carefully plaiting hair in patterns, close against the head.  I imagine a young girl — perhaps her first time having it professionally done — a captive audience. But this could be any age. Having your hair done is a luxurious experience. What fills that time? Gossip, sharing life stories . . . and different hairstylists have different approaches to putting people at ease. Some are talkers, some draw their clients out. Also, I loved the wordplay here — corn rows call to mind ears of corn, which is picked up in that last line.  Some would consider this a senryu rather than a haiku — either way, a witty and feel-good poem.
 
Second Prize (tie)
 
grandpa’s funeral
the cornfield murmurs
in the wind
     — Melissa Leaf Nelson (55 points - 6; 2; 3; 4; 0)
 
This is a gentle and moving haiku. After the emotional tug of the first line, it draws on our senses: we hear the soft sound of wind through the corn and feel the easy embrace of the breeze. I can imagine that the grandpa of this haiku was a farmer, that this was the land he worked. His passing is a loss, but the wind and the fields are reassuring to those who remain.
 
 
Honorable Mentions
 
corn tassels
a bush warbler’s song
rides the sunbeams
     — Mona Bedi
 
Can a bird’s song ride a sunbeam?  I am willing to make the leap to that surprising last line. It’s a dazzling, brilliant day, with corn tassels reflecting the sun’s light and the brightness of the bush warbler’s song.
 
blues sung
along the railroad tracks
cornflowers
     — Eavonka Ettinger
 
This is a very evocative haiku, working on many levels. Cornflowers are blue, they grow easily, and they are resilient. Blues music has a long lineage that includes work/field songs, as well as songs of migration, melancholy, and yearning. I can imagine masses of sturdy blue flowers lining the train tracks, a fitting setting for the blues.
 
butter on corn
the pitch
of a salesgirl
     — Ravi Kiran
 
Another buttered corn haiku, but with a twist — here it is juxtaposed with a salesgirl’s spiel. The tempting taste of butter calls to mind the slick and easy words of the young woman’s sales pitch.
 
out of the corn stalks
nobody’s dog
wants to be my friend
     — Randy Brooks
 
A strange dog appears suddenly at the edge of a corn field, wagging its tail. This poem had me at the second line: “nobody’s dog” is such a moving way to describe an animal looking for a friend.

Beverly Acuff Momoi is THF Monthly Kukai Commentator. She is an award-winning poet and author of how the wind sighs and Lifting the Towhee’s Song. From 2019 to 2021 Beverly served as a panelist for the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards.

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!