THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — May 2026
This month’s theme:
bronze
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 baby’s shoes bronzed to remember forever. Who will take them now? | |
2 | a bronze snake — the salvation of the bitten | |
3 | A bronze sun — the wine dark sea is flat . . . | |
4 | a forgotten gift burnished luster tarnishing still rings sweet and clear | |
5 | a new bronze in the sculpture garden — cottontail at dusk | |
6 | a three-dimensional bronze sculpture at the end of the life road — you, me and time | |
7 | after the alarm the bronze bell and the child’s hands still trembling | |
8 | ageing athlete gold, bronze, silver forgotten | |
9 | air fry cocoa butter and my beach towel | |
10 | an empty pedestal holding up toppled stories | |
11 | antique memory portal of charm | |
12 | antique globe — the Greenland cap worn to copper | |
13 | apricot jam — our bronze hands peeling the sun | |
14 | arrowheads the iron age between us | |
15 | assemblée nationale the limestone walls adorned with bronze spikes | |
16 | At my cracked window Bronze plated cups and saucers Zapped my attention. | |
17 | at the shrine the patina worn from Buddha’s hands | |
18 | autumn sun the rooster’s crow spills bronze | |
19 | back to the fall of the Jurassic age — bronze leafed ginkgo | |
20 | beach caper . . . sunscreen smell on bronzed shoulders | |
21 | beech trees . . . through life’s hard seasons holding bronze promises | |
22 | bronze sky in west storm | |
23 | bronze age on the road to weapons of mass destruction | |
24 | bronze age she retouches her roots | |
25 | bronze binding — rereading a banned book | |
26 | bronze bracelets the tree trunk coffin of the Egtved girl | |
27 | bronze Buddha — a pair of doves warm the left shoulder | |
28 | bronze Buddha in moonlight chiaroscuro of sacredness | |
29 | bronze candlesticks hidden in her satchel . . . grandma fleeing the war | |
30 | bronze cheeks streaked with salt and soot — rain unrelenting | |
31 | bronze chrysanthemums becoming was | |
32 | bronze expanse the beach babe undoes her top | |
33 | bronze fingers — autumn sun greening | |
34 | bronze gate closed on both sides | |
35 | bronze goddess — a child’s hand on the cold face | |
36 | bronze hair in sunlight while the wind lifts a memory . . . summer lingers softly | |
37 | bronze latch shining where his thumb pressed | |
38 | bronze medal — one centimeter both near and far | |
39 | bronze medal — the child gives me some change | |
40 | bronze medal — using the ribbon to tie tomato vines | |
41 | bronze medal always a bridesmaid | |
42 | bronze mirror — a puddle holds the sky | |
43 | Bronze pendant A life lived, Reduced to a placard | |
44 | bronze statue I pause to read his name we both jump | |
45 | bronze statue of Mary peace garden for the faithful | |
46 | bronze statues — memories of ancestors rusting in peace | |
47 | bronze sun burns holes in bedtime routines | |
48 | bronzed baby shoes mother remembers them as soft and blue | |
49 | bronzed goddess stained hands st. tropez | |
50 | bronzing sky a starfish reaches for the tide | |
51 | building bridges . . . back between backyards bronze leaf begonia | |
52 | cast in bronze the little mermaid longing to be human | |
53 | Charging Bull enraged by his daily ball-polishing | |
54 | cherry petal — bronze patina daibutsu | |
55 | children’s garden Peter Rabbit’s nose rubbed bright so many small hands | |
56 | cops kick a poetess her notebook flutters like wings bronze angel | |
57 | day moon dullness of grandma’s bronze bangle | |
58 | distant horizon the bronze coloured sun embraces the moana | |
59 | dodging through traffic he deftly picks up a bronze coin | |
60 | ducklings ripple the bronze pond sculpture — summer breeze | |
61 | dusk gleam grandma’s croon — bronze duet | |
62 | enlightenment the museum returns a bronze buddha | |
63 | ethereal love yet let me sculpt it in bronze | |
64 | evening sun collects bronze after day gold and midnight silver | |
65 | father’s bronze arms he tests a knife blade on a few gray hairs | |
66 | favela Bahia a bronze beauty brings an end to her slavery | |
67 | fingers in drainage grate stilled bronze coin | |
68 | first monsoon — her anklets fall into step | |
69 | flea market purchase — from the desk falls a bronze coin | |
70 | flower garden — over the weathered Shiva bronze leaves | |
71 | fountain the bronze goddess grows greener | |
72 | from his hands an undefiled bronze — child’s head | |
73 | glinting in the ashes of an abandoned farmhouse a bronze crucifix | |
74 | goat bells . . . a herder bronzes the blue hour | |
75 | hanging from the crucifix her son’s bronze star | |
76 | held by the air around her bronze ballerina | |
77 | her hour long hands double worship — the bronze idols | |
78 | her summer tan from a bronzer — melanoma | |
79 | how much copper to tin Rodin’s thinker | |
80 | less and less friends the bronze doorknob loses its shine | |
81 | Liberty Bell cracked and silent irreparable | |
82 | linden scent lingers — the bard’s bronze lips worn smooth | |
83 | meteor shower . . . the bronze statue turns to gold | |
84 | midday Angelus — between three strikes a pigeon takes off | |
85 | molten bronze trickles down the throat . . . Scotch whiskey | |
86 | morning cast in bronze — begging bowl | |
87 | muscular bronze arms extend from the handles of the tobacco loppers | |
88 | museum guard — one bright place on the bronze foot | |
89 | museum shop the bronze warriors in plastic | |
90 | nearly extinct — protecting pennies in my piggy bank | |
91 | never prepared to see her name in bronze | |
92 | new home . . . wondering where to put my bronze buddha | |
93 | not even a name . . . under May downpour flowers of bronze | |
94 | old fountain someone’s wish greening on a bronze coin | |
95 | on his slouch hat a Rising Sun badge Aussie digger | |
96 | one more sip of loose leaf tea summer sunrise | |
97 | one more summer in the alms box bronze cicada | |
98 | parasols closed our bronze skin | |
99 | Pasta is bronze cut Wheat is organically grown I feel guilty | |
100 | patina on plaques of forgotten soldiers . . . hillside cemetery | |
101 | pigeons on horseback skin in the game, green from time lunch, weathered brown bench | |
102 | poets describe sunset as fading in bronze hues | |
103 | public garden a child’s mitten in the bronze lion’s mouth | |
104 | quiet, bronze, unaware of its beauty, late sun falling on a mud-brick wall | |
105 | receding waters — her bronze urn buried with an incense cup | |
106 | risky obsession — the golden-brown skin of a sun worshipper | |
107 | robin’s-egg blue once was copper brown lady liberty | |
108 | rusty clip — the grip of loan papers | |
109 | school marathon — bronze medal in his bag | |
110 | seek ye not gold or silver, but the bronze prize for it keeps ye hungry | |
111 | shallow river . . . bronze leaves swim with red salmon | |
112 | sometimes bronze is better than silver or even gold | |
113 | still shining forth this memorial day their bronze stars | |
114 | strained muscle — one step away from the bronze medal | |
115 | sun in your hair the scent of bronze and salt summer afternoon | |
116 | sun-bronzed still unaware of brewing cancer cells | |
117 | sun-cut rain rivets copper leaves to tin roof | |
118 | sunlight breaking through an autumn mist — bronzed leaves glisten in a doe’s eyes | |
119 | surfing lesson the bronze instructor’s white grin | |
120 | swallowed pride bronze medal | |
121 | temple bell melted down for war the sleeping butterfly | |
122 | the bronze glow of a Bedouin girl’s skin — sun-baked dunes | |
123 | the bronze tip of his fountain pen made words that hurt | |
124 | the mighty bronze bell swings high absent any sound | |
125 | the soft light of the setting sun a bronze coin | |
126 | The tanning booth glow Is softer than Mole removal | |
127 | the tower I built with Dad — Grandpa’s penny collection | |
128 | their bronze medals reflect the eternal flame dawn service | |
129 | Three Sword strikes on the blade of a Samurai Sword I have just acquired was it a duel? . . . did he retain his honor? | |
130 | touching the inside of the Daibutsu’s belly warm bronze | |
131 | tourists rubbing the breasts of the bronze Molly Malone | |
132 | true winner smiles with bronze studying tomorrow | |
133 | trying the best — always end up with bronze medal | |
134 | Tutankhamun’s tomb meteorite-made iron blade sharp among bronze toys | |
135 | two bronzed figures in ocean spray embrace | |
136 | unlucky in love in Juliet’s bronze breast — another hole | |
137 | vibrant hills spread with poppy’s glint midst honeyed green soon the heat will bronze | |
138 | when war ends the ego be cast in bronze | |
139 | wide children´s eyes tiny bronze stars on the wizard ´s cloak | |
140 | winter bronzing willows dance with breeze spring revealed | |
141 | With mum’s breath, slowly. Twice removed, third in line, Watching death — alone. |
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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