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THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — July 2022

This month’s theme:
heat

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

      100 degrees
the maternity ward
out of ice chips

2

a gentle breeze
slides through the garden
wrecked by the heat

3

      a melted visage
of their former selves
vintage wax manikins

4

      a monk’s nub end
notes
the stones heat

5

      a red mole
below his right shoulder . . .
the heat

6

      a sultry
childhood crush
malabar heat

7

      after swim
goosebump skin on smooth
sun-warmed boulder

8

      after the blaze
the odor remains,
trying to forgive

9

      afternoon heat
shining even more
your summer color hair

10

      all sweat and flow
not in one swipe
his peevish looks

11

      at my red bee balms
the flutter of hummingbird wings —
a gentle breeze

12

      Balloons full of anger —
Cheeks of the young lady
With a cheerful hat

13

      beauty cooling off
under a willow —
atsui desu ne

14

      blue sky summer . . .
lovers kiss so faint
they evaporate

15

bonfire in all eyes the heat

16

carefree childhood
left with the burnt house
her shelter life

17

      child’s pelvis
looking for shade in the sand
full of warmth

18

      cool morning
the injection site
still warm

19

      cool sheets
a dog day’s
mirage

20

      deep summer
another bird drops out
of the morning chorus

21

      desert heat
a horntoad dashing
from shadow to shadow

22

      dog days
the cat barley elicits
a yawn

23

      downtown “TENT CITY” —
a triple-digit heatwave —
we are losing us?

24

      dry heat . . .
the slosh, slosh
of the coconut

25

endless heat wave —
a couple kiss with ice cream lips
on the courthouse steps

26

      Equal parts sticky
A bead becomes a trickle
Summertime sweating

27

      escaping the heat
I see my breath
in a winter poem

28

      Even flies
cannot fly
August wind

29

      even in this heat
goldenrod
is shivering

30

      evening heat . . .
mom holds my hands
one last time

31

      evening heat —
voices filter through
wet curtains

32

      extreme heat
grabbing a cold beer can
the oak tree shadow

33

      fire games —
under the stars the heat
of passion

34

      From the hot pavement
children skip, hop on singed soles
to the green, cool grass

35

      Full sickbay
too hot for exercise
summer camp

36

      Fynbos on fire
Bulbs need heat to burn open
Death and life cycle

37

      Grandma’s new glasses
cooling her eyes
rounds of cucumber slices

38

      Great bulky sunset
Robed in shivering colors
Sultry fiesta

39

      Great Salt Lake is dying —
will the city choke on PM10
laced with arsenic

40

      heat advisory
trespassing to swim
at the quarry

41

      heat all over
even cool cool
mother’s lap

42

      heat breaks —
morning dew lingers
beyond sunrise

43

      heat index
hitting 100 . . .
a hawk circles again

44

      heat index zenith
some thrive, others cook
depending what zone built for

45

      heat is energy
emanating from the sun
golden hibiscus

46

      heat of the day
a mosquito’s
laboring buzz

47

      heat shimmers promise
magic waits up ahead — you
fall for it each time

48

heat wave
sleep too melts in a
brain fade . . .

49

      heat wave —
spotted dove landing on
empty birdbath

50

heat wave your lips taste of the sea

51

      heated debates
of the lawmakers
bullets keep raining

52

heatwave
neighbors open
their doors

53

      heatwave —
the resilience
of a cicada

54

      heat-wave
the smell of lemons
burping in ice

55

      hot concrete
the ins and outs
of anthills

56

      hot exchange
between grand parents
winter morning

57

      hot flashes . . .
this climate change
inside me

58

      hot love between them
although he works in the sun
and she sits in the shade

59

      hot rock
growing energy
in the lizard lounge

60

      hottest summer
going
troglodyte

61

      how many meters
to the lemonade
the heat

62

      humid twilight
on the swinging couch
cat furs

63

hypnotic heat —
a cloud pulls closer
to the sun

64

      I find my warm
Spot on the steering wheel
Often

65

I hose down our roof
with the siren howling
Diablo winds

66

      I stroke
the last rays of evening
black cat

67

      in the heat
of the moment
words we can’t unsay

68

      in the heat
the bougainvillea colours
are killing . . .

69

      in the house
the dogs continually pant
the heat

70

Indian Summer
shimmering heat from cars
blurring the world

71

      insomnia
dog days night
heat wave

72

      intense heat . . .
listening to Vivaldi’s
La Primavera

73

      it’s a dead heat —
the human race
versus its choices

74

      jazz nights her dance sizzzles

75

      jellyfish
beached on a summer tide’s
receding wave

76

july’s swelter — shimmering
through half-closed lids
a new perspective

77

      lake lilies
the red speckling
dragonflies

78

      late the pace
of fireflies after dusk
heat shimmer

79

      lingering heat —
grandma pulls from a well
a bucket of sand

80

      long day . . .
a buffalo rolling around
in mud

81

      long hot walk
water’s gone
box canyon

82

longest night
already almost asleep
mosquito

83

      Lovers consume
hot coals of passion
which slowly die

84

      Marble bench
in the Versailles garden —
the shadow saves us

85

mascara
on the pillowcase —
sultry evening

86

      melting mountains —
cyclones of different names
year after year

87

      mercury climbing the retreating ice

88

      Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
excitement screaming
defense

89

      midsummer
the birdbath overflows
with sparrows

90

      minnow flopping
in a parched mud puddle . . .
ceaseless cicada song

91

mint lemonade
quells the heat
of this conflict

92

      mirage . . .
I look at the nature
of thirst

93

      moment of heat
wish i were a
shape-shifter

94

      Mr. Squirrel
stretched across the birdbath
make room for me

95

      night heat . . .
the satin sweat
of the moon’s halo

96

      no longer alone
at first my fire
smolders

97

      ochre earth
tap’s drip drop
fakes distant rain

98

      on heat
decaying
star

99

on her forehead
lingering heat
from mother’s hand

100

      one hundred five
across the Salt Lake Valley
smoke lingers

101

      oppressive heat of the day
grandpa wipes his furrowed brow
white, cotton handkerchief

102

      parched earth
the clank of another bucket
joining the queue

103

      persistent heat
finding a carved heart
in the confessional

104

      red java apples
rot and wrinkle by the heat
fat maggots

105

      relationship
at boiling point
turn to low

106

      Relentless heatwave
a dead house sparrow
its mouth open

107

      scorch sizzle swelter
planet too hot to handle
global cool down dance

108

      scorched by the fire
of separation
a night before marriage

109

      scorching heat
a cicada sings
her shell away

110

      scorching heat
her touch on my forehead
the only coolness

111

      scorching heat —
on pavement drawn
a snowman

112

sharing ice cream
scarecrow
and me

113

she lets me smell
through a million windows
hot summer

114

      shimmering asphalt
feral kittens
in the shade of a dumpster

115

      shimmering hills
an old sheepdog
melts into shadow

116

      sidewalk chalk
heat ignites
summer games

117

      sizzling sound
in the heat of the night
cool jazz

118

smoke alarm tester
he’s so hot
I glow

119

smoldering vacuity
suspended between structures
a summer breeze

120

soaring summer sun . . .
the dog’s tongue
grows longer

121

      sodden winter days
warmth from
my new library books and a teacup

122

      somniloquy
I spend the summer
with sleeping pills

123

      stifling day
a homeless fans herself
with cardboard

124

stifling heat
the dog and the cat lying
beneath the ceiling fan

125

sultry night
a white noise lullaby
of the fan

126

      summer afternoon
shadows of cedars
painted on a fan

127

      summer festival . . .
on the sidewalk
is his melted popsicle

128

      summer heat —
a hummingbird drinks
from the cupped leaf

129

      summer heat
a mirage
of women’s rights

130

      summer heat
a refugee child sleeps
under a wet dupatta*

*dupatta is a long piece of cloth worn around the neck, head, and shoulders by women from South Asia.

131

summer heat
all the commuters
stifle a yawn

132

      Summer heat
and empty once again
the bird bath

133

      summer heat
first date
in her high slit dress

134

      summer heat one thing leads to another

135

      summer heat
the ice cream vendor
hums a tune

136

      summer heat
the lolling
of two passion flowers

137

      summer solstice
as is . . .
if there is no sun then life is a mirage

138

      summer solstice —
dad scratches his back
with the hand fan

139

sunburned
under shaded oak tree
cool breeze

140

      Sushi dipped into
Soy sauce and wasabi heat
Asahi chaser

141

      tabasco sun seasoning my skin

142

      texting you
warmth goes from fingertips
right into the heart

143

      the heat is on
deniable
no more

144

      the high Sun —
our bodies can’t stop
crying

145

      the march in the heat
at the head an old woman
in a wool suit

146

      the melted voice
of the ice cream vendor
summer heat

147

the mown grass
exhales —
a hot night

148

      the shade
hidden under a linden
insolent joker

149

the stillness
of aspen leaves . . .
heat wave

150

Timbuktu 1000 —
one more bottle thrown
into the trunk

151

time to move on
we come out of the shade
me and my shadow

152

      tomatoes
dying
for another iced tea

153

      trip in Africa
at every distant mile a
mirage shimmers

154

walking into
the heat of the sun
on the Pennine Way

155

      warm ride home —
coming home,
even warmer

156

      We drink beer
in the shade — strings of
parasols

157

      welcome weight
on a cold winter night
feline hot water bottle

158

      With gentle brush strokes
the sun paints in hue and tone
a fresh new morning.

 

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 2 Comments

    1. If I am not wrong, you are supposed to mail your response, Barbara, through the voting window provided above

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