THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — August 2023
This month’s theme:
swelter
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 bubble of hot warmth — bunch of red roses | |
2 | a hot pavement the dog carried in the arms of the barefoot girl | |
3 | A swelter morning On the top of the mountain i envy my shadow | |
4 | a toad stool of the open-air hostel warming sky | |
5 | a/c out after her pre-work shower already soaked | |
6 | afternoon swelter beads of mother’s sweat in oven light | |
7 | afternoon swelter — distant rumble of a train between the whistles | |
8 | An ill-treated sales girl’s face . . . Sweltering mount Fuji | |
9 | August birthday fave roast turkey and pumpkin pie annual swelter | |
10 | august dawn a silent hiss world evaporating | |
11 | August sweltering trying to remember December’s cold winds | |
12 | bleached coral . . . NOAA working to restore the rainbow | |
13 | blue jays soar above cicadas, swelter | |
14 | burning pyre my father never liked heat | |
15 | Butterfly on the flower fanning I go for my fan centered | |
16 | charred trees the silence of insects’ chorus | |
17 | choosing to unfollow the sun sunflowers | |
18 | clear skies till the crackle of dry shrubs | |
19 | climate change candle makers gather at madame tussauds | |
20 | Cocooned in comfort I fight evil with Zelda Outside trees wither. | |
21 | corkscrew — a restless nightie on a balmy night | |
22 | cycle ride the delicious feel of sweat evaporating | |
23 | Dali’s clock . . . everything melts during summer | |
24 | December solstice while I swelter you freeze | |
25 | dog days only the sun rising to the challenge | |
26 | dog days paddling in the shallows still dreaming | |
27 | dog days side by side he and I sweltering | |
28 | drive-in movies our daughter watches for fog drops | |
29 | drops of swelter into my eyes heavy heat | |
30 | dry heat sweat dripping down my back | |
31 | egg sizzles sweltering heat | |
32 | even after a shower we swelter | |
33 | fire hydrant spray realizing I’m no longer a child | |
34 | flies the bloody flies dog day afternoon | |
35 | fountain splash tired birds are drinking reflection of the sky | |
36 | grackle staring up bill open to the blazing sky praying for relief | |
37 | haiku of kindness tethered to water bottle passerby’s gift | |
38 | heat juicy drop of sweat from cherry lips | |
39 | heat lightning the squiggle on the driveway a baby snake | |
40 | heat wave . . . a bald man mowing the lawn wipes his brow | |
41 | heat wave . . . only a sparrow at the outdoor cafe | |
42 | heatwave — even the shadow burns of my room | |
43 | heatwave fallen asleep sooner than I the mosquito | |
44 | heatwave green sleeves sounds like a lifesaver | |
45 | high humidity . . . my shadow pools on the floor | |
46 | Hikers swelter in heat wave die | |
47 | home from the Med cool breezes and drizzle my wet face smiles | |
48 | Horizon rippled translucent waves radiate from blacktop stew | |
49 | hot enough to fry an egg this summer | |
50 | hot july night — millions of dancing fireflies on a crystal art work | |
51 | hot summer drizzle dripping on my brow salty sweat | |
52 | Hot sun quiet sky Once a calm delight for all Now too much for life | |
53 | hot tears sweat mingles she slips ice tea | |
54 | hot under the collar temperatures rise — climate change | |
55 | human swelter the eye and the camera never tired | |
56 | I dream of sun tanned ice cream, languid days but all it does is rain and rain | |
57 | I sweat all day . . . now it rains all night | |
58 | ice harvest steaming horse breath | |
59 | In Hell, sweltering Heat waves I wave back. | |
60 | in the blistering heat petals wilt honeybee sweats | |
61 | in the cool shade of an old pinetum, respite from the swelter | |
62 | indigo flowers infusing in the bird bath a hawk asks for peace | |
63 | lace — a quiet memory floating through sweltering night heat | |
64 | late summer adither and buzz before naptime | |
65 | lengthening shadows at sunset fire moon | |
66 | lost-dog flier almost faded white summer heat | |
67 | Mama’s soup swelters on the stove of my childhood After lunch I suck on a popsicle | |
68 | menopause swelter becoming a stranger to myself | |
69 | menopause — sweltering torso grapples the shadow | |
70 | mewling from the attic crib swelter night | |
71 | midday swelter . . . a raven’s call silences the mirage | |
72 | middle of August thinking of my hometown’s only toboggan hill | |
73 | midsummer the village drought ends at the cemetery | |
74 | molten asphalt — all the anger that takes me over | |
75 | My block burns Barren of trees Shade is a privilege | |
76 | my grandson tries to describe snow to his grandson | |
77 | my heatwave doula screams it’s a breech! | |
78 | night sweats . . . these blankets of blackbird song | |
79 | no air-condition sweat flows down over face slower than the wind | |
80 | no fishing — blue-green algae blooms in the sweltering heat | |
81 | NOLA summer heat, Second line got you moving Swelter in the street. | |
82 | O! Greate Sun every sunflower bows so please . . . stop | |
83 | Old aged canine lying on sweltering leaves eyes gazing upward | |
84 | on sun swelter beach remembering the last time we looked at each other | |
85 | over and over re-tuning the humidity my sleepless wings | |
86 | perks of solitude . . . Himalayas state of mind naked staycation | |
87 | persistent flies on her unsold fish sweltering dusk | |
88 | pouring rain — his silence chokes me | |
89 | power outage now we can hear the bullfrogs | |
90 | power outage — pregnant maid fans her belly first | |
91 | prison cell boiling memories of the family | |
92 | Raging rain Drowning out Sweltering day | |
93 | reflecting fire eyes watch the panorama turn to shadow | |
94 | rising heat horizon shimmers the street a mirage | |
95 | scorcher she slips ice cubes in her bra | |
96 | scorching heat with each step I chant Hanuman Chalisa | |
97 | scorching my feet . . . a casual walk over the Saharan dunes | |
98 | scorching sun — a new hat for the old scarecrow | |
99 | seasonal NYC mugging the heat closes in | |
100 | Shimmering towards me Stealthily yet steadily Sweltering heat waves | |
101 | someone’s voice calling me swelter than thirsty desert | |
102 | stifling heat cows lying down on the job | |
103 | streaks of gold in antique painting sweltering workers | |
104 | subway in Paris a bead of sweat takes a nice trip into a decollete | |
105 | sultry afternoon stirring sweet rain clouds into my mocktail | |
106 | sultry day — the constant buzz of a housefly | |
107 | sultry day — watching the waterfall so refreshing | |
108 | sultry night a bead of sweat slips down her neckline | |
109 | sultry night — the electric fan scans my thoughts | |
110 | summer heat a carpenter hammering into the afternoon | |
111 | summer heat tummy side up near the air cooler . . . my forest cat | |
112 | summer looms fear of reprisal | |
113 | summer rain drums on the plants — sultry evening | |
114 | summer seeping through sheets awash with dawn | |
115 | summer squall . . . steam rises from the asphalt | |
116 | summer sunset the horizon a fire eater | |
117 | Summer sunshine Chrysanthemum flowers Bent to the ground | |
118 | summer swelter an umbrella of cloud veils the day moon | |
119 | suspicious wife prolonged tiff he takes cold shower | |
120 | sweat drips down the earth’s face sweltering heat | |
121 | sweat drips onto raw hands a dollar’s worth picked | |
122 | sweat lodge bowing the head taking the heat | |
123 | sweaty ball falls to the floor — match point | |
124 | swelter heat — to the stream rhythm peace flows | |
125 | Swelter of the market a cucumber smiled | |
126 | swelter quenches thirst in waves Venus | |
127 | swelter the rookie rubs the ball before his first pitch | |
128 | sweltering day the road bridges mirages | |
129 | sweltering heat but my child is in a war bunker | |
130 | sweltering heat . . . crouching in the same shade deer and tiger | |
131 | sweltering heat even the kettle whistles | |
132 | sweltering heat even the shadows looking for one | |
133 | sweltering heat . . . even the sun hides behind a cloud | |
134 | sweltering heat getting colder her feelings | |
135 | sweltering heat — her sultry glance follows his beaded sweat | |
136 | sweltering in St Mark’s Square half-baked pigeons | |
137 | sweltering night a couple in the room next door drowns the fan out | |
138 | sweltering noon . . . leaving the DNA in every corner | |
139 | sweltering sky the ruined temple endures | |
140 | sweltering station — a freight train blows through | |
141 | sweltering summer — the cows are standing in the pond | |
142 | sweltering sun . . . a camel’s bellows silenced in the cameleer’s snore | |
143 | sweltering where we find ourselves near the end of the age | |
144 | symbiosis of lichen on deadwood . . . wildflowers | |
145 | tanabata wishing for autumn | |
146 | The air hangs heavy, So I watch from the window. Even wildlife hide. | |
147 | the garden is filled with the sound of clinking ice in your lemonade | |
148 | the heat driving us mad helter swelter | |
149 | the naked sword return scabbard — sacrifice offer | |
150 | the swelter of burning our villages . . . Narco-terrorists | |
151 | the whack whack of a roofer’s hammer — her glistening biceps | |
152 | There once was a spider, That quickly move beside her, It seems so creepy. | |
153 | tiger lilies fading in shadow traces of paws | |
154 | times so sticky heat has no chill beads appear | |
155 | Tyrannical heat Sun savagely ruling the day Burning breath away | |
156 | Under the shade of umbrella Two sparrows Summer swelter | |
157 | under the sprinkler i stay alive for another hour | |
158 | unstoppable sun shimmering lizards retreat to the shade | |
159 | vacation period — all my plans melt away with me | |
160 | warm tea the well water steams . . . midday swelter | |
161 | watering can the perspiration after each rinse | |
162 | wet bulb temps the helter swelter of protests at the breaking point | |
163 | will living things survive this ocean stew whitening coral | |
164 | winter seclusion . . . sweltering through menopausal blues | |
165 | World is no longer kilter We must all learn new Swelter | |
166 | world overheating scout camp jamboree swelters canvas no shelter |
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!
