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THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — November 2020

This month’s theme:
resolution

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.

The Ballot

1

a creek blocks the way
their bodies bridge the water
army ants

2

a little boat
chases low lying clouds
in the horizon

3

a new beginning
after the freedom struggle
Independence Day

4

a rose blooming
blooming
and blooming again

5

a thousand
origami cranes fly . . .
mushroom clouds recede

6

acorn shells
under an oak . . . a blackbird
breaks the silence

7

after all this kerfuffle
my pledge
to turn a blind ear

8

calendar filled with
dark blue circles . . .
AA meetings

9

cat fight
the way wild ferns
accept the loser

10

chanting sutras
the blind man plays his violin
until the last string

11

cheerful spirit
embers still crackling
in a cold room

12

Cobwebs at my desk
A pencil-shard labyrinth
Resolute dreamer

13

deciding to believe
what I want to believe
darkness descending

14

decision made
the slowing beat
of a life unplugged

15

despite the warning
beautifying the walls
with sharpies

16

dropping daffodil . . .
her first step
post-op

17

Empty battery!
Even my weighing scale
Was eating too much

18

first cold —
let’s go to breathe
the last rose

19

freshly grated —
nutmeg tops
mum’s hot toddy

20

frozen lake —
falling ducks
learn to skate

21

grandmother
my childish resolutions
in her secret box

22

Happy New Year, snail!
I’ll keep you company
on the way to Mount Fuji

23

her eyes . . .
I find my resolve
weakening

24

hoarfrost
the arresting beauty of
his lie

25

i will certainly give up smoking this time

26

inner flight —
on the butterfly wing
weighs the winter

27

Jack ‘O Lanterns —
a few names short
on Orwell’s list

28

kintsugi kindness
restore the crack
in the liberty bell

29

last leg . . .
a hail of bullets outside
the doors of power

30

Leaf on the leaf’s
only begotten
wind

31

life resolution
the cocoon gives birth to a butterfly
time keeps running

32

literacy
for women — thousand tanka
before I breathe last

33

lockdown —
two monkeys are looking for fleas
from each other

34

loving you
anyway
cracked mirror

35

Mind and heart at one
no horizon is too far
patience drives the way

36

musical
even when gusts thrash
the wind chime

37

my child’s funeral
. . . on return I shop
some baby clothes

38

my resolve to walk
the sunny side of the street . . .
winter light

39

new resolution —
the first snowfall covering
today newspaper

40

New Year —
in front of laughing Buddha
my star-resolution

41

night sky —
how a star scatters
just for a wish

42

no resolutions
people still fighting
pandemic

43

not losing sight
of that lighter footprint
fetus kick

44

octogenarian —
a mother
to her grandchildren

45

on Monday
I’m cleaning the apartment
maybe the next day though

46

peace accord
she bans politics
at the dinner table

47

racing clouds all those forgotten plans

48

ration line-up . . .
statued people
on their marks

49

reminding me
of last year’s resolutions
autumn leaves

50

resolution —
remembering
last year’s promise

51

resolution talk
the skeptical glance
of my wardmate

52

resolutions
with fake champagne
I toast to drink more

53

resolved, he says
I won’t hit you again
after he hits her again

54

secret trophy
twenty-five years later
dried-out cigarettes

55

sensing her anger
he swears off drinking for good
she changes channels

56

she in her house
I in mine
a bridge of rainfall

57

shoreline dash
over blazing Bondi sand
umbrella oasis

58

slow motion —
my final
bow

59

smoke haze
their wedding vows
crystal clear

60

Sometimes
Resolution within
Takes lifetime

61

street lamp
casts a shadow
for the moonless sky

62

submerged
the duck
and i

63

the devastation
of too many affairs
— their divorce

64

the graduate
on New Year’s Eve
pixelation

65

the last vote
the last leaf
finally falls

66

the leftover
from my birthday cake
new resolution

67

the void of silence
a bridge
of three words

68

therapy session —
with her autistic son
she learns to tie a lace

69

utility poet
o-for-four
in the kukai

70

visit time
a ray of sun peeks
into the hospital ward

71

wet leaves
grandma with her (Johnnie) walker
staggering away

72

wildflower
they say I am not
ambitious

 

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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