THF Monthly Kukai — June 2025

 
 
Welcome to the THF Monthly Kukai.

This month’s theme:
wine
 
 
 
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: white

In May there were 183 submissions from thirty countries across five continents.
Ninety-four voters casting ballots determined the following results.

First Prize
 
daisy petals . . .
a little pile
of white lies
     — Laurie Greer (53 points - 3; 6; 3; 2; 1)
 
He loves me . . . he loves me not . . . she loves me . . . she loves me not . . . the daisy game has been played by people the world over, and this haiku beautifully invokes it. The ellipsis in the first line not only provides a pause before the second, but it is also a visual echo of the pile of discarded petals. White lies are told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, and the haiku hints that might be the case here. There's a suggestion of backstory — perhaps it is not just the daisy petals telling white lies.
 
Second Prize
 
childhood friend
after fifty years
the shock of white
     — Steve Gump (50 points - 2; 5; 4; 1; 6)
 
The passage of time — and how it can take us by surprise — is well depicted here. Two revelations are suggested in the last line — that someone known since childhood has changed so much, and the realization that we may have as well. The word choice is especially effective: shock carries the double meaning of a mass of hair and an upsetting surprise.
 
 
Honorable Mentions
 
in the gun rack
of an old pickup truck
a white umbrella
     — Richard Straw
 
What a surprise in the third line! Instead of a weapon, we have protection from the elements. That it's a white umbrella also calls to mind the white flag of truce, or ceasefire.
 
midnight laundry
the white sheets spinning
a ghost story
     — Barrie Levine
 
With the scene set in the opening line, the mood is created. It's the middle of the night, and every creak, every sound is magnified. Excellent line break in the second line.
 
receding wave
the whiteness
of her breast scar
     — Hifsa Ashraf
 
The juxtaposition of the wave and the breast scar is stunning and works on many levels. In the curved shape of both. In the gradual fade of white after a wave breaks and in the way a scar fades over time. But most movingly, when we consider the enormity of a wave's power, we have some idea of the magnitude of impact that scar has had on the person. Beautifully done.

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!