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THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — December 2021

This month’s theme:
long night

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 good life —
grandma goes gently
into the long night

2

a long autumn night
I measure time with raindrops
and a drip

3

a long night
the things
that we lost

4

A long night
Waiting to view mom
In the morning

5

A long winter’s night
A frosty breeze
Even the monkeys need a winter coat

6

A Small drop of dew
Foggy Long night runs slowly
On stable Green leaf

7

a trail of droppings
proof of their visit —
chocolate reindeer

8

all night long
the soft touch of flurries
on his bedroom pane

9

all night
the moon holds its tears
until you leave

10

all through night
sharing secrets with stars —
insomnia

11

Apollo 11
a dark night that lasts
for eight days

12

as if
we are still together
long night

13

catching z
between nippy and nappies
long nights

14

cemetery breeze
a blackbird pulls a worm
out of darkness

15

cold moon
in your blind eye
a long night

16

cold seeps in
from the empty side of my bed —
long nights

17

coming out of the ER
into freezing rain
beautiful night

18

Contractions begin
The moon rising and setting
Laboring past dawn

19

COVID nights
the brightest star
in my neighbor’s window

20

covid year
my list of angels
longer than winter night

21

dark chocolate
all those nights
of unanswered longing

22

darkness only enfolds those without inner light

23

dawn wanting to know how it ends

24

dusk till dawn
the length of
an apology

25

end of war —
a night trying to forget them
before the first train

26

every tree
a thousand shards of light
nightlong ice storm

27

flickering candles
strive against downed power lines,
foreshadow the long, bitter night

28

Fresh snow on the way
Cloud sky wall torn apart
Star glitters at night

29

full moon —
crawling across
the sky

30

gate latch silent
through the night . . .
no road goes home

31

Gone night, the long night.
Haunt night, the lone night
Mourned night, my love burnt night

32

her cremation –
the night stretches
into an endless pause

33

holding her hand
until she lets go
assisted dying

34

hospital bed —
the night when time
forgets to tick

35

how quickly dawn arrives
just as sleep takes over
. . . insomnia

36

how the teeth of night
unless you learn to outlast it
bites you in the ass

37

howling wind
the long night
of the soul

38

if patience is the way
I shall become a river
and flow forever

39

insomnia,
a long night
undisturbed

40

insomnia
oh to be counting sheep
instead of worries

41

insomnia . . .
this headlong rush
into the past

42

into my ears
mosquitoes chanting
new mantras

43

know-it-all the snowy mountains beyond

44

long night —
a drunkard fries eggs
on broken stove

45

long night —
a silence of snow
behind the door

46

long night
all the stories
that could fit

47

long night
another odd-shaped tablet
for the pill box

48

Long night
before the dawn
Uncertainty gone . . .

49

long night
bizarre & anticipated
the surge of an odd pandemonium

50

long night —
both insomniacs
me and the moon

51

long night
counting stars
on the ceiling

52

long night
finally the time
for A Suitable Boy

53

long night . . .
he parts with her in
the middle of road

54

long night . . .
I attempt to understand
the cricket’s story

55

long night . . .
I can pick stars
with my hands

56

long night —
I’m still planting
daffodils

57

long night
in the ICU corridor
autumn stillness

58

long night . . .
last candle
last flicker

59

long night
listening again and again
to a gnat’s solo

60

long night moon
a deeper groove
in my worry stone

61

long night star gazing
too numerous to count
errors I have made

62

long night —
staring at the urn
from across the room

63

long night . . .
the calmness of the universe
during the pandemic time

64

long night
the cry of a new born
at dawn

65

long night . . .
the hissing noise
of his oxygen mask

66

long night —
the steady wink of a neon
in the emergency room

67

long night trying to recall the quiet thoughts of Li Bai

68

long night wails
the alley full of them
cats in their cradles

69

long night walks over the day starry eyes

70

long night
warmer and warmer
grandma’s rosary

71

long night
wishing to grow
back into my childhood

72

long night you bring the deepest silence

73

long nights
full of demons
hiding in our dreams

74

long nights
our snowman too
gains weight

75

Long nights
Short days
Winter flies, brings sunny days

76

long nights
what starts
with a shadow

77

long winter night . . .
fixing the dropped stitches
in mom’s scarf

78

long winter night
the wind gusts restless outside
tosses and turns too

79

longer nights . . .
the growing cold
never leaves

80

longest night . . .
I watch our horizon
dissolve into icebergs

81

longest night watching the overdraft

82

longnightsshapingmylongingshapingmydemons

83

looking eastward
and then at the west
elusive dawn

84

lovemaking
how long this
first night

85

lucky hour
the long night torn to pieces
by fireworks

86

mascara lashes —
night sleeps in
the eyelids of my baby

87

midwinter night
forest
in deepest sleep

88

mother
among the stars I count . . .
long night

89

naughty coal banned for
covid jabs around the world —
Santa’s long night

90

new site
new dreams
long night

91

night birth
paces too many
to count

92

night crawls
into the shadows . . .
moonset

93

night of smells —
memory overflows
beyond the street lamps

94

night wind
when the tv’s off
and there’s no one else awake

95

nightlong journey . . .
the calls unanswered

96

O mild middle
fiddles in hand
fire’s flutists & fifes

97

on his
last legs
long night

98

our hug
extend the night
winter solstice

99

our longest night
her candle still burns
in the hospice window

100

pacing with
the floor moon
maternity ward

101

pain management
the night lengthens
into dawn

102

past midnight
we do the dishes
while our baby plays

103

power cut
the candlelit night
is long

104

quiescent moon
a long night stretches
to Java island

105

Santa’s helpers
Overtime required to QR code
Eve to be triple time

106

She sat there, watching
As snow fell furiously
It was a long night

107

sleepless
lighting candles
against the dark

108

snow upon snow
the long night’s heaviness
of her passing

109

solstice fever dream
long night ghosts play sentinel
warding off the sun

110

staying up all night
only the scent of coffee
and the heat of my laptop

111

still embers . . .
the last page
glows

112

Street lights
and chill winds
for company

113

sunset
through a raised wine glass —
to cool!

114

temptation
to be a singing bird
end of winter’s night

115

the earth-grazer slowly
meteors through the sky
gibbous moon

116

the long night
begins its creeping
first Christmas alone

117

the long night has passed
the hopelessness veil lifted —
a Saviour is born

118

the long night lengthening the owls’ duet

119

The mirror
is there
in front of
me
My face
is not

120

The moon is closer
the road is longer
the morning farthest

121

the weight of silence
fills the dark and empty room . . .
search hampered by snow

122

this long night
the silence of snowflakes
falling into snow

123

tornado
extending the night
to last a lifetime

124

toss and turn — tossing ghosts from the past turning nightmares into dreams

125

tracing
the river to its source . . .
long night

126

train whistle
fading into darkness . . .
the long night

127

twilight peace
nights many times as long
without you

128

wake myself snoring
the night growing shorter
as dreams collide

129

we love a long night
waiting for the stars, the moon
real magic begins

130

weak sun peeks through gap
over levelled storm-blown pine —
hedge has lost first tooth

131

what a long night!
I’m waiting for myself
to sing the rooster

132

winter chill —
on your side
of the bed

133

winter morning
my spouse’s feet
finally warm

134

winter solstice
all the more time
for stargazing

135

winter solstice
amaryllis drops petals
on the floor

136

winter solstice
among the greetings cards
a seed catalogue

137

winter solstice . . .
on the tip of my pen
myriad thoughts

138

winter solstice
stars delighted with
the extra screen time

139

winter solstice
. . . stories warm up
around the hearth

140

winter solstice —
the photo I kept
of you

141

witching hour
where lantern light ends
three raccoons

142

wooden trunk
i preserve the few years
my child lived

143

you are dead tonight
the tree and i sit silent
weary christmas eve

 

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!

 

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. I STILL think people are sending in multiple submissions, disregarding the rules. How many would think to start a poem about a long night with the single word “insomnia”?

  2. My submission was not included above. Is there a preselection process that weeds out certain submissions?

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