THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — July 2026
This month’s theme:
earth
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 | ---- pebble --- on the edge -- of the universe ----- earth | |
2 | a barren desert the earth without the oasis of you | |
3 | a galaxy of stars one blue dot our home | |
4 | a leap off the ground the kangaroo | |
5 | a lenient landlord to the morally bankrupt . . . Mother Earth | |
6 | a sown seed resting well in earth may skip a season | |
7 | a speck of dirt a blue marble things called earth | |
8 | action required care of all creatures — mother earth | |
9 | advised to return to my ivory tower — splitting earth | |
10 | after the digging earth fills the footprints first | |
11 | after the rain — the earthworm gulps moon mushroom | |
12 | after the storm earthworms sunbathe on the sidewalk | |
13 | after the storm gathering seaweed and bullshit I feed the earth & scatter seeds of hope | |
14 | all the shades of soil war zone | |
15 | among the crowd — only a small child sat and felt the earth | |
16 | another funeral — too little potting soil on the earth | |
17 | ant, worm, badger till sunflowers | |
18 | as a child rain nourished the earth . . . hail stones | |
19 | bare toes in spring grass fingers in soft garden soil pleasure and power | |
20 | bare wrist against the earth a quiet pulse | |
21 | behind the plough dark ribs are a promise | |
22 | beneath autumn leaves the earth keeps its song waiting for the rain | |
23 | between the farmers fingers & my toes space dust | |
24 | between sky and earth seatbelt ding — flight to Iran | |
25 | Beyond the wing, cloud-shadows cross mountainous claws at motionless pools of blue. | |
26 | big blue marble the current shooter may knock it out | |
27 | billowing clouds somewhere in the distance a thunder clap | |
28 | blackness of space . . . the fragility of the blue marble | |
29 | blooming flowers make the earth look not so heavy — first ray after night rain | |
30 | blue hour . . . abloom in the bell jar longing for the earth | |
31 | Blue planet when will it end Science or religion | |
32 | bluebells . . . fallen bruising the field her feet | |
33 | buried deep in the earth he always stays twenty-five years old | |
34 | calloused hands in the garden loam rooted | |
35 | child’s play coming home covered in river mud | |
36 | clear night I can trace the Nile earthshine | |
37 | cracked earth digging up a few blackened potatoes | |
38 | dawn the earth reclaims her colours | |
39 | dawn rising— soil scented dew soft | |
40 | DEI . . . the earth tone rainbow of a pallet of mulch | |
41 | digging a hole the sky dips its toe into earth | |
42 | down-to-earth creepers flourishing without fanfare bellflowers | |
43 | dry brown parched earth begs life giving water pours forth begonia rejoices | |
44 | dusty desert heat summer after summer the haboob returns | |
45 | Earth seen from space so peaceful | |
46 | earth — at its very core a jumbled heart | |
47 | Earth calls four seasons To replenish her waters Never to die alone | |
48 | earth day a plastic bag caught in a tree | |
49 | earth day . . . in the river mouth a plastic God | |
50 | earth from space breath clouds above a swirl of senses | |
51 | Earth our home our life for the children and all animals by the children too | |
52 | earth road the refugee’s lullaby over the dust | |
53 | earth shudders, awaits our passing — Impatience blooms. | |
54 | earth soft under the knees of gardeners | |
55 | earth spins steady lies spin salmon lays her eggs | |
56 | earthlings 3rd rock from the moon taking selfies | |
57 | earthquake all the plans rearranged | |
58 | earthy tones start the day the smell of brown | |
59 | eerie red sun hangs in hazy sky — wildlife cries | |
60 | erosion of baked earth reveals Lake Mungo secrets skeletal remains | |
61 | evening showers kaleidoscopic city us oblivious | |
62 | fallen petals on the earth my dreams fade away | |
63 | fields sold in his weathered palm a little dust | |
64 | fingers curled around the earthenware café de olla | |
65 | fingers in loose soil a root resits — clod of damp earth | |
66 | first frost the earth keeps its own secrets | |
67 | first kiss, the earth slows its rotation | |
68 | first raindrops — on the front line advances just the petrichor | |
69 | flowers bloom in fruitful earth | |
70 | for sale sign the boy fills in his hole to china | |
71 | from the sky down to earth . . . paper plane | |
72 | Gaza wind even the dust turns to Mecca | |
73 | ghosts of trilobites in a limestone landscape human life on earth | |
74 | global conflict yet buds of peace lilies from the soil | |
75 | gold leaves in to and out of earth gold to red to gold | |
76 | grandpa and boy in garden dirt hands big and small | |
77 | grass-stained knees dirt under my fingernails a good day | |
78 | grounded down to earth the clay Buddha | |
79 | gust of wind three kids walking two dogs in between seedbeds | |
80 | happiness moved into my childhood home google earth search | |
81 | heat wave parchment paper fans my face | |
82 | held right here running my fingers through banyan roots | |
83 | her face now and then perennials | |
84 | her fertility night jasmines fall all night | |
85 | holding on to a piece of earth — colocasia peel | |
86 | home the comfort of earth tones | |
87 | home away from home some of the earth will be me | |
88 | hot summer day cold well water drawn up tasting of earth | |
89 | how gently the willow sways . . . a handful of earth | |
90 | human insanity — earth’s rotation and my own walk wobbled | |
91 | I take off my mother’s shoes so she can feel you beneath her feet | |
92 | I touch the sweet earth a tiny cricket awakens cries | |
93 | it weeps we trade its beauty for our ephemeral glory | |
94 | it’s time for sleeping peacefully on earth | |
95 | kneaded too much the toughness of this world | |
96 | knotted roots hew close to the earth his muscled arm | |
97 | last note — a clod of earth onto the rose | |
98 | leaving earth behind a leek yanked skyward | |
99 | lonely tyrants contemplating earthrise | |
100 | losing Earth — the weather patterns are outdated | |
101 | lunar eclipse the earth’s shadow heightens her restlessness | |
102 | make a difference go not round and round with the world | |
103 | manicured garden her fingernails full of earth | |
104 | migrating geese one earth under their wings | |
105 | molehills among soldiers’ graves . . . sun-shower | |
106 | moonrise — will the sea move toward it | |
107 | morning drizzle . . . the pulse in her bare feet | |
108 | mother earth all the news that’s fit to print | |
109 | mother earth — wishing I could stitch her a stronger coat | |
110 | mother’s thread the Earth tethered to the sun | |
111 | mud hut still alive on fired earth scorching sun | |
112 | muddy street — shine in the aglet of shoe string | |
113 | my Irish gardener’s lilting brogue — digging deeper for roots | |
114 | no matter what the mood earth scent | |
115 | no vocal chords from heaven to earth a snail’s trail | |
116 | oceans, mountains, forests different animals, peoples war and peace from time to time | |
117 | oh my heart . . . heat rising from sunbaked clay on a barren lake | |
118 | old fence — grandpa’s nails almost soil | |
119 | On a wheel, water and clay slip through her fingers. Fire it light as air. | |
120 | On the Earth — in the Galaxy — of the Universe . . . | |
121 | One more revolution around the sun . . . the heavens are getting closer | |
122 | our blessing of earth’s tranquility . . . dinosaurs | |
123 | packed earth the old boat swells with wave petunias | |
124 | painting her portrait outside the pyramid Van Dyke brown | |
125 | parched earth another species dies of thirst | |
126 | pebbly ground — she pours the syrup on the cake | |
127 | Petrichor the scent of rain falling on our earth | |
128 | plough furrows storks peck and peck firstcomers | |
129 | Praising the lawn he walks on trampling dewdrops | |
130 | rain soaked earth her narrative gains no mass | |
131 | rain-washed world Gaia steps out in her finest | |
132 | retention basin manicured illustration — earth soaking up rain | |
133 | roaming red with the winds untameable soil | |
134 | salutation to the sun oil crane in a field | |
135 | scraping dusty earth wild horses buzzing black flies wind-blown tumbleweeds | |
136 | settling on the moon . . . a crate of earth worms | |
137 | sheets of rain pour down shy green blades of grass peep out, the earth’s giving birth | |
138 | showing off our blackberry tongues summer’s last patch | |
139 | sixty monsoons old grandma’s brass kettle whistles upright | |
140 | smelling earth the sheep drift back | |
141 | soft earth putting the last bulb to bed | |
142 | South Dakota sunsets as far as one can see red floods the sky | |
143 | space missions to the moon . . . discovery of earth | |
144 | spider roots of an orchid — fir bark and perlite | |
145 | spring rain a sprout glistens in moist soil | |
146 | spring rain an earthworm sprouts up | |
147 | stepping over tree roots . . . the forest filled with foxgloves | |
148 | stone colored bird always the shared earth | |
149 | strawberry moon looking down on the earth a bat flies by | |
150 | summer’s end folding daylight into the soil | |
151 | sun-baked earth saguaro reach for rain clouds | |
152 | sweeping the yard until I find the earth | |
153 | takes our mistakes and buries them . . . the earth | |
154 | The blue and green Pendent Of the universe | |
155 | the earth is shaking heaven seems to be silent a cry falls unheard | |
156 | the feeding sparrows chased off by a fat jogger | |
157 | the line where heaven meets Earth summer rain | |
158 | The moon’s eye Ripples on green sea waves A lone sailor | |
159 | the sound of dragons flowers potter’s wheel | |
160 | the strangeness of earth not one made identical this white butterfly | |
161 | the worm digs deep down produces earth from decay for flowers to grow | |
162 | The Young Lily The Calla Lily, white for deep, soulful mourning. You were gone too soon. | |
163 | There, under my nails: the beginning and the end. I wash it away | |
164 | touching heaven touching earth shoes and a skullcap | |
165 | toward Everest my boots still carry soil from Bulgaria | |
166 | underfoot a horizon | |
167 | upended urn returning father into the wind | |
168 | weathered earth barely able to bear its own burdens — fragile shell | |
169 | where heartless and kind endless space for their own time’s boundary | |
170 | winter field the plow catches — birds circling | |
171 | wire cage puncture black soil bleeds tomatoes lush, dripping red |
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!
Comments (0)