THF Monthly Kukai — November 2026

 
 
Welcome to the THF Monthly Kukai.

This month’s theme:
solid
 
 
 
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: ocean

In October there were 181 submissions from thirty-one countries across five continents.
One hundred one voters casting ballots determined the following results.

First Prize
 
ocean swell
the first break
in my son’s voice
    — C.X. Turner (46 points - 5; 0; 5; 3; 0)
 
Second Prize
 
blue ocean
the heave of her belly
in my ear
    — Srinivasa Rao Sambangi (39 points - 3; 4; 1; 2; 1)
 
Third Prize
 
pearl inside
the ocean
inside the pearl
    — Ravi Kiran (38 points - 4; 2; 1; 3; 1)
 
 
Honorable Mentions
 
quiet
over the ocean’s roar
full moon
     — Arvinder Kaur
 
Ryoan-ji
the monk rakes
another breaking wave
     — Mike Fainzilber
 
drop by drop
the ocean
between us
     — Mara Gajic
 
armistice —
the ocean gathers back
its broken waves
     — Andrei Gradinaru 
 
ebbing tide —
nothing but prayers
for his peaceful end
     — Nitu Yumnam 

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!