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THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — June 2021

This month’s theme:
community

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

3 spoons of sugar
borrowed over the fence
his BD cake is saved

2

49 apartments building
one blended smell
of our dinner time

3

A herd of hoof pounds
Rumbled in the empty streets.
Humans staying one.

4

a red bench —
women raising voices
on silent tears

5

a smile
at the end of a phrase . . .
facebook friends

6

a tender vine
envelops the tree trunk —
united in grief

7

a zoom full of seniors
coaching each other
how to unmute

8

acacia trees . . .
the buzzing of the bees
at sunrise

9

an empty lot
littered with wildflowers
urban renewal

10

bees and flowers
magically blended
honey

11

being —
same wavelength
no pretence

12

belated blooms
I live among
the hopes

13

Birds on the wire
at the dawn meditation
Everyone welcome

14

blinded by smell
of crayons and glue
the old schoolhouse

15

blinding flash
the boy covers
his ears

16

bumper crop
parents bookend
their broods

17

chitchatting with neighbours
so much buzz
in the California lilac

18

chorus of frogs —
multi-lingual haijin
gather round the pond

19

cicadas
the dreams
we all share

20

Closed kindred
Knitted lodgers wandered
Unity altered

21

clouds
on peonies
the weight of the rain

22

colorful fabrics
church’s quilting circle
a flutter

23

community care
i leave my
‘I’ behind

24

community center bingo for candy bars —
Milky Way

25

community flowerbeds
the sunny breaths of volunteers
planting seedlings

26

community garden
another night visitor
climbs over the fence

27

comm(unity) of all songbird notes

28

community quarantine
on the balcony railing
a family of six pigeons

29

community service
we rebuild
bridges and spirits

30

condolences
slowly warming up
at the funerals

31

cornflower scent —
gathering of bees
on my balcony

32

covid death —
only the caretaker
accompanies him

33

COVID ward
a young man gives up his bed
for an old one

34

Early summer hope
Vegetable garden
Preparing salad

35

elephants
on the march
no signposts

36

evening walk
all the thresholds
I’ll never cross

37

excited bird talk
heads tilt this way and that
new neighbors

38

face control
flies back
a crow

39

facebook
her posting lost
in the algorithm

40

faceoff
the poets sharpen
their verse

41

fever of stingrays
bypassing ocean angler
community action

42

Field full of flowers
Flaunting all colors and scents
Till the scythe arrives

43

field of wheat —
thriving spikes mingle
with wild poppies

44

first dating —
the doorman’s accomplice
glance

45

flash floods
everyone rushes to save
the deity’s idol

46

Flock of birds I saw
rejoicing; singing
Community spirit . . .

47

Food pantry
A meal offered
From heart to hands

48

from burrows
among the bushes
Fairy penguins assure each other

49

funeral
praying mantises
still on the wall

50

gathered in the shade
smoking sunshine cigarettes
sipping yellow wine

51

golden orb’s web
in our communal garden
collecting sunshine

52

. . . grandmothers
caring for children
caring for . . .

53

gravestone path —
all the villagers
unburied by snowmelt

54

heard first on Zoom
the death of a friend
winter chill

55

held together
by tarpaulin and tent poles
street sleepers

56

Hiroshima Day
the one-legged king pigeon
cuddled by the flock

57

honey in my tea
agitated buzzing
near the fallen hive

58

house debris . . .
ants still find the way
to mama’s kitchen

59

howling at the moon
I hear
answering howls

60

i listen to the Wind
and i don’t know the Wind —
mallow flowers

61

I see the moon
and the moon sees you
as close as a song

62

In a universe
Of diversity
A sense of belonging

63

in all seasons
ant shaking hands
and work together

64

in silence
walking through whispers
adult survivor

65

In summer, when we
melt, let it be together,
not further apart.

66

jingling dance
in colorful costumes
night of tribes

67

June heatwave
nightly, from rooftops
owls bellow

68

just
big enough for us —
country church

69

kites in the sky
children of migrants
ascend togeter with them

70

last minute goal
a wave of excitement
roars through the masses

71

local gardens
abundant vegetables
to share

72

Lockdown
Sharing of Haiku poems
Fills the gap

73

locked down —
my community
of one

74

lump of sugar —
for every ant
equal share

75

mail box flyer
historic home under threat
I sign the petition

76

meditation hall
all pervasive silence
in different jargons

77

Melting
G7 Summit
Poles apart

78

migrating hooligan
schooling as one
fools the seal

79

migratory birds
look not
the chasing storm

80

modern times
among a crowd of people
I’m lonely

81

monday traffic
the cotoneaster full
of bees

82

monks asleep
crickets recite
the sutras

83

monochrome enough
out here . . .
yellow king penguin

84

morning in the city
no place for shadows
on the crowded street

85

morning ritual . . .
my dad feeds an army
of sparrows

86

morningside terrace
the city not looking
as shitty from here

87

Most women feel like
waitresses at a wedding,
even in their homes.

88

my community —
people know about me
even more than I do

89

neighborhood’s
grassroots movement . . .
network of trees

90

new chair
the trust
wobbles

91

Noah’s Ark
in the desert sand
silicified trees

92

one-handed boy
the blind girl raising
both kites

93

pandemic streets
no place to
pick pockets

94

pandemic
‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’
galaxy of stars

‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ is a Sanskrit phrase found in Hindu texts such as the Maha Upanishad, which means “the world is one family”

95

part of our commune
but not —
the all-weathers homeless

96

peace garden
two men chat
a pair of legs between them

97

pondering life here
how cardinal knows squirrel
grass knows thirst, seeks sun

98

potluck dinner
twelve bowls of baked beans
mutual melody

99

“proliferative
distributive & wide
tenets of an undated community.”

100

puffed feathers —
he bows
again and again

101

refugee day . . .
following the river
to its source

102

refugee tent —
in a foreign language
spelling “home”

103

resurrection night —
the dandelions light up
the road to the cross

104

reverence
for my grandmother’s long life
grieving village

105

samphire flats
frogs’ chorus rises
above reeds

106

sense of belonging
absorbing stories told
barber chair awaits

107

sharing a sense of
place up there in the mountains
a forest of trees

108

sharing memories
under the wrinkles . . .
old age home

109

silver bells
one Santa drops a quarter
in another’s bucket

110

six feet apart one pandemic world

111

someone to call when
childcare is canceled
weight off my shoulders

112

soup kitchen —
on menu today
mom’s special broth

113

starlings
preparing the heavens
for darkness

114

still walking to work
but my morning shadow’s getting
longer and longer

115

strawberries —
a gathering of ants
in the vegetable garden

116

streetlights coming on
the spine-frosting screams
of happy drunk girls

117

suburb bar
in sweetish smoke
bitter stories

118

Swimming in the buff
No body is peculiar
All are special

119

Tai chi
inside the shadow
inside myself

120

the bees
change their hive . . .
monday morning

121

the middle of May
and still the cold persists
another snowfall

122

the ocean knows even the tiniest pebble

123

the warmth
of a real congregation
funeral mass

124

the wolf chatters
the sparrow scatters
the hunter’s ego shatters

125

there are no more words
children of the world unite
love is all we know

126

three friends of winter
pine, bamboo and plum
art in bloom

127

three trees join
roots find middle
path
unity

128

underground temple . . .
ants excavate the soil
to build their colony

129

vole prints
wildflowers dropping seeds
upon new snow

130

waiting an hour
to accept her Friend Request
he plays it cool

131

we mould together
interlinked share our deep roots
a sense of place grows

132

WHO speaks up for sapiens

133

wintry morning
inside the labyrinth
we sing frozen songs

134

yarn collective
the click of knitting needles
and tongues

 

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!

 

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