THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — October 2021
This month’s theme:
gourd
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 bee in a bitter gourd blossom . . . honey quest | |
2 | A gourd in the morning glow glistening | |
3 | a pariah dog at a broken gourd ladle barks at the urchin | |
4 | a pumpkin as big as the universe | |
5 | After rehab; on my vegan list An ash gourd. | |
6 | after the fight her snake gourd curry even more spicy | |
7 | ageing musician the fading rhythm of his hollow gourds | |
8 | aleatory some are even cut in half — pumpkin seeds | |
9 | All Saints’ Day I make a vase out of a pumpkin | |
10 | always and always he carves bottle gourds for sale at tourist locations | |
11 | at the entrance of the house ash gourd hanging the evil eyes | |
12 | autumn moon — behind carved teeth a burning candle | |
13 | autumn still a green hissing — in our garden | |
14 | back from vacation cottage covered all over with squash vines | |
15 | backyard as far as I can spit watermelon | |
16 | barren farm with a lonely gourd wishing longevity | |
17 | basking on a farmer’s field — speckled swan gourds | |
18 | bitter gourd dad’s signature dish | |
19 | bitter gourd pickle the lingering heat of summer | |
20 | bounty harvest — cream of bottle gourd for every guest | |
21 | braving depression a hollowed pumpkin lit within | |
22 | dawn the sound of a split pumpkin | |
23 | delicata squash pale yellow October moon striped with dark clouds | |
24 | dried bottle gourd hollowed and painted with mum . . . memory box | |
25 | each alone yet together . . . dew on the gourd | |
26 | empty gourd . . . waiting for the first kick in my belly | |
27 | enlightenment a scarecrow thrown down among pumpkins | |
28 | eyes fixed on the drinking gourd black lives matter | |
29 | fall fair the forgotten taste of mom’s pie | |
30 | fall festival the knives are out for the gourds | |
31 | farewell lunch the lingering taste of bitter gourd | |
32 | first bite bitter taste of rejection | |
33 | first crush admiring the curves of my calabash | |
34 | first lipstick — with mouth ear-deep in watermelon slice | |
35 | fitting gourds into a bowl . . . still working on it | |
36 | French doors reflecting in his eyes, garden tortoise | |
37 | from a cello case music for the godfather bang bang bang | |
38 | garden plot untended gourds scatter | |
39 | Gourd didgeridoo musical inheritance shape me like a swan | |
40 | gourd flowers . . . sunset has stopped in the next garden | |
41 | gourd in the garden broken all records great emptiness | |
42 | gourd maracas all the roles we play towards the finale | |
43 | gourd pudding . . . outweighs her marriage only child’s face | |
44 | Halloween coming children busy in carving those pumpkins and gourds | |
45 | Halloween gourds — warm soups replace glowing magic | |
46 | Halloween smiling pumpkin me smiling back | |
47 | hey, kid, put me down my roots are here in this patch and don’t call me Jack | |
48 | hippie pumpkin on the queen of autumn flower wreath | |
49 | homecoming a gourd on the trellis moonrise | |
50 | illumination — in the top of the pile of gourds the full moon itself | |
51 | in the kitchen the silence of dusk . . . gourds | |
52 | Indian gourd many thumbs up on its tender skin | |
53 | Indian summer my Radio Flyer filled with gourds | |
54 | jack-o-lantern — wiggle of the child’s tooth | |
55 | lockdown — from the neighbor’s window the smile of a gourd | |
56 | long autumn night alone counting seeds in a hollow gourd | |
57 | lost inside music of the kora joy and pathos | |
58 | lumpy gourd another obsession for a new birdhouse | |
59 | Mexican gourd I trace the shape of our world | |
60 | moon is coming out — every gourd in the field casts its long shadow | |
61 | motherhood — my first year trying to grow gourds | |
62 | my gourd pie, did not win an award, how did the judges window get splattered | |
63 | on a frosty field a chorus of pumpkins deepens the night | |
64 | on her steps the gutted pumpkins fake a smile | |
65 | once utensil, musical instrument, weapon — now mere ornamentation the mighty gourd | |
66 | orphanage — by the earthen fireplace, heap of bitter gourd | |
67 | peeking sun my sister hides her jack o lantern for the contest | |
68 | perfect day for soup I dropped my grocery bags oh, my gourd! | |
69 | pinpoints of light on our north wall carved gourd lamp | |
70 | porch steps . . . jack-o’-lanterns glow | |
71 | preparing for fall my knobby squash on the porch three bites smaller | |
72 | pumpkin carving — poets take the tops of heads off | |
73 | pumpkin chunk’n gotta be a little off your gourd | |
74 | pumpkin cream — your favorite fish my grandmother’s | |
75 | pumpkin festival — two Jack-be-little pumpkins in her bra | |
76 | pumpkin flowers too late to ask for forgiveness | |
77 | pumpkin harvest granddaughter’s first meeting with a wasp | |
78 | pumpkin head emptied of all seeds — food for thought | |
79 | pumpkin patch all that remained of warriors’ smiles | |
80 | pumpkin rolls . . . the worn hands of the baker | |
81 | pumpkin scarecrow no match for the storm | |
82 | pumpkin vitamins one after another — immunity | |
83 | rattling dried gourds at the rain gods — now would be good | |
84 | returning from grandma’s — a ripe gourd for each hand | |
85 | ripe gourds on the vine out of each one a bite | |
86 | ripe pumpkin — I wish Earth were as mature | |
87 | ripe pumpkin — under my sandal a snail | |
88 | roasted pumpkin my old mother asks again who taught me this | |
89 | samhain approaches outer darkness inner light | |
90 | scary pumpkins scarred by curious critters | |
91 | scooping starlight from a pool of water the drinking gourd | |
92 | spooning out winter sustenance acorn squash | |
93 | spring at last not a single horse coming out of the gourd | |
94 | stacked firewood on the porch a pumpkin | |
95 | stars in the night sky seeds of the creation calabash | |
96 | steaming soup he still wears his gloves her ladle trembles | |
97 | stuffed bitter gourds I never wrote down grandma’s recipe | |
98 | summer rainfall the sound of pumpkins ripening | |
99 | sunbeams slide from a pumpkin leaf . . . raindrops | |
100 | tangerine tinge gourd dancing spirits passing by stillness woods lingers | |
101 | Tardy dawn A withered rose on my page | |
102 | tasty pumpkin soup grateful I’ll be cooking for two very soon | |
103 | the end of the shift the doctor pierces the gourd with a scalpel | |
104 | the fruit of one vine . . . scattered siblings | |
105 | the old farmer a nod to his plot of inedibles | |
106 | the pooch carries a piece of pumpkin — dog-day Halloween | |
107 | The Pumpkin spice craze Advertising on the sign Of the tire dealer | |
108 | the radiance of solace — bottle gourd soup | |
109 | the swell of you in me | |
110 | the wailing song of the gourd flute late late autumn | |
111 | there is a warm place I like to call it my own gourd engagement ring | |
112 | Through bitter gourd a lone maggot makes its course | |
113 | tricks first, then the treats Lily’s Halloween garden golly good gourds wait | |
114 | Uneven edges Fall colors bursting brightly Gourdgeous | |
115 | watermelon seeds . . . picking out the grouses one by one | |
116 | Waxing moon came quite close a slice of pumpkin | |
117 | well I’ll be a gourd | |
118 | well-mixed the sociable gourd | |
119 | wildfires the last gourd cooked alive | |
120 | winter is coming gourds left in the fields are slowly rotting away | |
121 | winter knitting her toddler’s hat in the shape of a patty pan | |
122 | withered vines a moonlit gourd wobbles in the wind | |
123 | yellow gourds the sun is out in the neighbour’s garden | |
124 | yellow rattler desert maraca coyote gourd |
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 3 Comments
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When will the results for Oct. be posted?
# 116 -5p,
# 7 -4p,
# 86 -3p,
# 9 – 2p,
# 88 -1p.
Hello Tom,
I inadvertently submitted my ballot twice for this month’s kukai. My apologies.
Paul Brassard