THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — February 2023
This month’s theme:
chocolate
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 cold breeze . . . is that the end of the summer | |
2 | a girl and a boy – they share both their feelings and chocolate | |
3 | a hot chocolate the cat on my knees — the last snowfall of this winter | |
4 | a kiss from the cup breathing in the frosted hush sipping chocolate | |
5 | A lonely koi breaks the surface to feed. The water ripples softly | |
6 | a once-hard, brown shell divulges to the tongue its minty interior | |
7 | A space for the love they owe Mars men | |
8 | A sweetness on her tongue Melting I give her half of my heart | |
9 | a young boy’s eyes misty with DDT — hands bursting with cocoa beans another clutches fist-fulls of plastic wrapped labor countries between them | |
10 | after bad day on the evening — salvation on chocolate | |
11 | after divorce he bought her a chocolate bitter sweet | |
12 | all these flavors . . . “Chocolate!” quick decision when you’re five | |
13 | April sun the chocolate bunny turns into a puddle | |
14 | assorted chocolates — I’m unsure of where we stand | |
15 | baking fudge brownies her love language chocolate | |
16 | Birthday grandma’s chocolate melting into his laughing mouth | |
17 | bitter cocoa the dark ingredients of child labour | |
18 | bowl of M&Ms the clatter of tiny moons | |
19 | box of chocolates sender unknown | |
20 | bustling chocolaterie the street urchin prays for a Christmas miracle | |
21 | candy floss the little cavities in between | |
22 | child’s soul in the young soldier’s hand a chocolate | |
23 | childhood fair my classmate smells of vodka chocolate | |
24 | children’s cold hands chocolate hot fragrance from faience cups | |
25 | Chocolat — looking for Juliette Binoche behind the counter | |
26 | Chocolate cookie tasty communion wafer my prayers are answered | |
27 | chocolate cream her tongue at the bottom of the dish in secret | |
28 | Chocolate Day — for a while I forget everything | |
29 | Chocolate day — I forget my sugar level | |
30 | chocolate fondue on Valentine’s Day an ex-lover texts me | |
31 | chocolate kiosk baby picking up hazel nuts on mother’s lips | |
32 | chocolate kisses for thirty years togetherness | |
33 | chocolate melted on my doorstep his heart | |
34 | chocolate memories the swirl of hot fudge in mom’s old mixer | |
35 | Chocolate mustaches Adorning three upper lips: An old photograph | |
36 | chocolate piece saved in a pants pocket the furnace clicks on | |
37 | chocolate Rx Anthropocene cure for all planet celebrates | |
38 | chocolate sauce . . . still licking the dried out spatula | |
39 | chocolate sky a hint of bumbershoots | |
40 | chocolate the first colour to fall on his ear | |
41 | chocolate — the world language of children | |
42 | chocolate treat — slowly melting my old grudge | |
43 | chocolate under the sun . . . his promise | |
44 | chocolate you are the icing on my cake | |
45 | chocolate-covered I devour each one of his lies | |
46 | chocolate-covered peanuts binging on your kisses | |
47 | chocolatey bitter sweet imagined kisses | |
48 | cholesterol care; one dark chocolate per day, treatment of delight! | |
49 | Cocoa dream, Growing on her tongue With every bite. | |
50 | cocoa pod harvesting ten-year-olds with machetes | |
51 | Cold chocolate Sundae Trick and treat my hangovers Warm hopeful spring | |
52 | colourful candies the beggar boy’s grin ear to ear | |
53 | cow boy cookies with chocolate . . . spring in my children’s hearts | |
54 | crumbs in your beard empty plate, cigarette desire sated | |
55 | cupboard corner the foil wrappings of my secret guilt | |
56 | dark chili chocolate — the aftertaste of cheating on my wife | |
57 | dark chocolate the acquired taste for her tantrums | |
58 | dark chocolates the bittersweet taste of love melts in lover’s mouth | |
59 | de-addiction . . . I replace you with dark chocolate | |
60 | dog and i lick our last choco stick . . . euthanasia | |
61 | Each chocolate truffle so beautifully crated bears witness to tender loving hands | |
62 | early morning the first thing I saw a sunlight | |
63 | Early rays Allopreening of love birds ripening cocoa | |
64 | Easter bunny A chocolate memory From childhood | |
65 | eating alone a box of chocolate . . . valentine’s day | |
66 | everywhere we went together chocolate drops | |
67 | fair trade — so much more than a fistful of candy | |
68 | family feast it’s me now making mom’s chocolate cake | |
69 | far from home her eyes the colour of Tim Tams | |
70 | February 15 valentine’s day for a chocolate vendor | |
71 | February 15th — a colleague gives me a box of chocolates | |
72 | first chocolate bar waiting for the spark in the toddler’s eyes | |
73 | first ice cream the gleeful grins of chocolate | |
74 | first-ever chocolate bar on ghana cacao farm child-slave’s smile | |
75 | flavonoids tempering my guilt dark chocolate | |
76 | from garbage the only chocolate i got on birthday finally spring | |
77 | from my aging fingers . . . young dark chocolate tresses slip | |
78 | frozen solid in the old pond a golden wrapper | |
79 | Geese fly honk honking. It’s rained today | |
80 | goo-goo eyes glancing at the dessert cart through our dinner date | |
81 | Greedy receptor melted porous piece of quick happiness | |
82 | half moon cookie — our tongues meet on the dark side | |
83 | haunting memories father’s daily dose of love heart melting chocolate . . . | |
84 | heart health question jelly bean or Hershey square Doc says chocolate | |
85 | heart-shaped box empty spaces where the truffles should be | |
86 | hide and seeking lives, sweets that smell of childhood stars — eating memories. | |
87 | hot chocolate marshmallow top hat so rich | |
88 | hot chocolate the time we build together | |
89 | hot chocolate with haiku cafe poet | |
90 | hot chocolate with mini marshmallows she finally comes inside | |
91 | Hotel Chocolates Left on my pillow by a Stranger-turned friend | |
92 | I love you . . . on the chocolate wrapping the taste of strawberry | |
93 | I watch again “The Sweet Life” — low carb diet | |
94 | icy tundra thaws foil covered cacao-melt makes failsafe peace-pipe | |
95 | In the bird box Chocolate eyes Possum returned. | |
96 | in your belongings chocolate foil reflecting | |
97 | ‘just one more’ stuttering thoughts 7 chocolates | |
98 | kids’ play written in mud twists and turns of chocolate | |
99 | kisses melt in my mouth — little mountains | |
100 | left behind the crackers the kisses | |
101 | lights out . . . the sweet snap of a chocolate bar | |
102 | melted heart of the cocoa bean creates happiness again | |
103 | melting chocolate — coating my lips her flavoured kisses | |
104 | melting chocolates he again forgets our anniversary | |
105 | melting in my mouth his kiss of chocolate | |
106 | mesmerizing the shop window fountain’s flowing chocolate | |
107 | midnight sky . . . a mug of hot cocoa warms my palms | |
108 | mindfulness one chocolate chip melts on my tongue | |
109 | mint truffle fingers sprinkled love letters | |
110 | moment of prayer the chocolate sundae | |
111 | moose in winter stripping birch bark — chocolate taffy | |
112 | Mother’s marijuana next to her chocolate stash the good old days | |
113 | my daughter replied running gives us endorphins so does chocolate | |
114 | my girlfriend’s chocolate she melts in my arms, messy but so delicious | |
115 | Nestled in his basket She cannot bring herself To bite off his ear | |
116 | new lens our skin colour is chocolate | |
117 | new pants no longer new — smudged brown whorls | |
118 | nightingale’s song . . . first lines of a love poem | |
119 | Nostalgia Chocolate wrappers My book marks. | |
120 | not to sound racist he says I look as good as chocolate | |
121 | now so dear chocolate cake | |
122 | old age a box of chocolate hearts float on the river | |
123 | оn the seashore talking to the seagulls a chocolate girl | |
124 | one chocolate malt two paper straws four knees touching | |
125 | ongoing war — in my father’s survival kit the chocolate | |
126 | our kiss tasting of chocolate Valentine’s Day | |
127 | outside arctic winds inside sipping hot chocolate childhood memories | |
128 | picking out the chips from the chocolate chip cookies my inner child | |
129 | Poor child Looking at chocolate Through the Window | |
130 | procrastinator the chocolate ladybird melts in my hand | |
131 | recess at school thin mints melting inside my pockets | |
132 | refugee camp — the forgotten taste of hot chocolate | |
133 | roses and chocolate — hoping for a way out of the doghouse | |
134 | Saturday evening just hot chocolate is so attractive | |
135 | scent of chocolate my expanding waistline | |
136 | sharing a chocolate heart broken in two | |
137 | she responds to ‘chocolate colour girl’ now — migrant bird | |
138 | Since Montezuma A small treasure in a cup — oh hot chocolate | |
139 | skating on the marsh white fluff circles hot cocoa | |
140 | Snowing outside — Mom pulls out of the oven the hot chocolate bread | |
141 | so close to the top us and the last chocolate crumbs in the snow | |
142 | so sweet chocolate in a bitter day my childhood | |
143 | solid heart or hollow head Pour me | |
144 | soothing and warm liquid Aztec gold in my mug | |
145 | spring protest chocolate flowers in the guns | |
146 | spring solitude fifty shades of chocolate | |
147 | sprouts in the soil . . . the crunch of a chocolate mint drop | |
148 | starry sky — love me don’t love me there is no trace | |
149 | stopping my Lexapro I try chocolate off label | |
150 | strawberries and chocolate — how many hidden secrets in his betrayal | |
151 | summer’s day running down my arm chocolate ice cream | |
152 | Sunday morning our cocoa mugs, she says, remind me of us | |
153 | sweet chords crystalize warmth on spring tongues | |
154 | Sweet frozen treasure. Chocolate ice cream adorned. Red cherry and nuts. | |
155 | sweet geometry — a child draws a diagonal line across a chocolate | |
156 | Sweetness short-lived until tooth ache | |
157 | talk of separation . . . dividing by two the chocolate coins | |
158 | taste of the moment melting . . . chocolate | |
159 | testing Aunt K’s recipe Better than Sex Chocolate Cake . . . the heavenly truth | |
160 | the birthday cake 1/2 white 1/2 brown for my mestizo child | |
161 | the box of chocolates with a dedication bitter memories | |
162 | the cello’s soul dark chocolate chords untuning time | |
163 | the chocolate remains melted — an argument over | |
164 | the chocolates that my grandmother liked are more bitter | |
165 | the eager glance he casts on her chocolate cake | |
166 | the last day before the wedding cake bittersweet | |
167 | the nibble taken from each chocolate your utter disdain | |
168 | the size of the box the number of chocolates doesn’t add up | |
169 | Theobroma from humble beginnings to God like status | |
170 | this tiny chip of heaven slowly melting on my velum — how can I make it last? | |
171 | Two million children will not go to school today — bitter chocolate. | |
172 | Under my pale arm the most delicious sight of your chocolate skin | |
173 | Unlike my love life You are reliably sweet Each night before bed | |
174 | Valentine’s chocolate those perfect hearts I once tried to shape | |
175 | Valentine’s cordials again — CVS bargain, as stale as his kiss | |
176 | Valentine´s Day . . . between you and me no need for chocolate | |
177 | Valentine’s day her chocolate heart at melting point | |
178 | valentine’s day my wife professing her love of chocolate | |
179 | Valentine’s Day on the chocolate box « From me to me » | |
180 | valentine’s gift for my chocolate skin fairness cream | |
181 | Valentines Day bickering over the last chocolate | |
182 | waiting my heart shaped chocolates melt in the box | |
183 | Waning moon biting through my cramps with chocolates | |
184 | warm chocolate drips from a strawberry swift lick | |
185 | when the day grows dull and the night goes on too long, there’s always chocolate | |
186 | Wife loves chocolate reminder | |
187 | will substitute words lovingly dipped in carob confection | |
188 | winter evening he takes chocolate prophylactically | |
189 | wiping chocolate from a face that once wiped mine | |
190 | you’re dark brown and hot sweet like my hot chocolate on a cool winter |
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 One Comment
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Thanks for doing this!
So many I liked.
Picked out 14 that stood out, then it was tough to winnow. I catch myself thinking of edits, too.
Here were some I liked a lot that didn’t make into the final five:
101 lights out . . .
the sweet snap
of a chocolate bar
151 summer’s day
running down my arm
chocolate ice cream
183 Waning moon
biting through my cramps
with chocolates
122 old age
a box of chocolate hearts
float on the river
85 heart-shaped box
empty spaces
where the truffles should be
78 frozen solid
in the old pond
a golden wrapper
74 first-ever chocolate bar
on ghana cacao farm
child-slave’s smile
22 child’s soul
in the young soldier’s hand
a chocolate
14 assorted chocolates —
I’m unsure of
where we stand