Seventh Annual Poets' Choice Kukai Results
Kigo Poems
First Place -- 66 points
autumn fog . . .
the river knows
the way
Francine Banwarth
(11,9,15) = 66 pts
This says nothing about family but its family that comes to mind, those here with us and those who've gone on.
Second Place -- 54 pts
evening stillness
the fog creeps in
pine by pine
Catherine J.S. Lee
(4,9,24) = 54 pts
Third Place -- 37 pts
acorn cap
sometimes all I know
is emptiness
John Thompson
(6,7,5) = 37 pts
With every reading the sensation is undiminished. Of all the final entries, this one speaks to a universal human condition--a child would understand this, an adult will find layers. It's a fine haiku.
and…
late summer
corn stalks closing in
on the scarecrow
Melissa Spurr
(3,9,10) = 37 pts
Fourth Place -- 31 points
raspberry patch
the neighbor boy
red-handed
tom painting
(2,8,9) = 31 pts
I like the double meaning of red-handed.
Fifth Place -- 30 points
graduation day
dandelion seeds
on the wind
frederick c gier
(3,5,11) = 30 pts
Sixth Place -- 25 points
somewhere in the fog
of my mother's memory
my name
Tom Genovese
(2,6,7) = 25 pts
I like the whole big sad picture it presents of this elderly lady suffering from loss of memory or fuzzy memory. This makes me think of the sadness of Alzheimer's disease and stays with me long after reading it.
Seventh Place -- 21 points
no one called
she gently dusts
her porcelain rabbits
Elena Naskova
(1,3,12) = 21 pts
This is so poignant. I can feel the loneliness and resignation.
Eighth Place -- 17 points
wet snow
another year weighs
on the century oak
tom painting
(0,4,9) = 17 pts
See a century tree and take heart, eh? There may be an equal blend of luck and toughness in getting old.
lightning
an owl in the elm
...not in the elm
Melissa Spurr
(0,4,9) = 17 pts
A flash of lightning portrayed so well!
Ninth Place -- 16 points
April Fools
the lake ice
still looks safe
Edward
(2,2,6) = 16 pts
Tenth Place -- 15 points
the taste of the dewdrop
before I bite
blueberry
Dorota Pyra
(1,4,4) = 15 pts
an owl's feather
marks the hare's last track —
midwinter night
Janice Hornburg
(1,3,6) = 15 pts
a gray cat glides
in and out of the fog...
autumn stillness
Janice Hornburg
(1,2,8) = 15 pts
winter garden —
among the beets a quiver
of rabbit ears
Nancy Smith
(0,5,5) = 15 pts
summer house—
the calligraphy
of mildew
j cully
(0,2,11) = 15 pts
Eleventh Place -- 14 points
dawn
a jackrabbit springs
from stillness
Melissa
(1,2,7) = 14 pts
Twelfth Place -- 13 points
corn silk--
the baby's hair
holds a spit curl
DeVar
(0,4,5) = 13 pts
Thirteenth Place -- 12 points
graduation day
her mother and I
test our civility
tom painting
(1,1,7) = 12 pts
Fourteenth Place -- 11 points
touring the farms
the sun sets in a glass
of elderberry wine
Garry Eaton
(2,1,3) = 11 pts
april fools
the sting of a prank
decades old
Roberta Beary
(2,1,3) = 11 pts
Fifteenth Place -- 10 points
graduation cheer
a flock of starlings
takes the sky
Terry O'Connor
(0,2,6) = 10 pts
Sixteenth Place -- 9 points
April Fools
sending the kids to buy
elbow grease
Carol Raisfeld
(1,0,6) = 9 pts
a harvest moon
the rabbit nibbles a new path
through the garden
Edward
(0,2,5) = 9 pts
thrift store painting
a pony dappled
with mildew
Melissa Spurr
(0,1,7) = 9 pts
Reading this and holding the image in my mind's eye, the layers of time and it's markings shift in and out of consciousness: dappled horse, paint on canvas, a representation of nature consumed once again by nature itself. Then, the preciousness of this image still being found valuable enough to put in a thrift store. There is wabi-sabi feeling of haiku, without pretentiousness.
Seventeenth Place -- 8 points
garden path
the old-forest fragrance
of leaf mold
Catherine J.S. Lee
(0,2,4) = 8 pts
abandoned house
mold adds its pattern
to the wallpaper
Rafal Zabratynski
(0,1,6) = 8 pts
Eighteenth Place -- 7 points
thunderhead moon
shucking dry corn
in the porch light
Ron Moss
(0,1,5) = 7 pts
Nineteenth Place -- 4 points
in the glow
of the red maple
autumn's end
Roberta Beary
(0,0,4) = 4 pts
Sometimes the commonplace is remarkable after all.
Twentieth Place -- 2 points
warm December day
the cottontail feasts
on the snowman's fallen nose
Terri L. French
(0,1,0) = 2 pts
Free Format Poems
First Place -- 60 points
sleepless night —
the moon shifts
from pane to pane
Janice Hornburg
(5,15,15) = 60 pts
This is all of a piece, fitting beautifully together. Very memorable.
Second Place -- 38 points
boatshop
bending the fir
to fit the waves
Beth Powell
(3,10,9) = 38 pts
I love the concept of bending wood to the shape of the waves.
Third Place -- 34 points
the night splits
into before and after
the phone call
Barbara Snow
(1,9,13) = 34 pts
Powerful. I doubt there is anyone over age twenty who hasn't lived through a night when they wished a certain call had not come.
Fourth Place -- 26 points
moonless night
the wind whistles into
an empty bottle
Tanya Dikova
(2,5,10) = 26 pts
I can hear the haunting sound and feel the emptiness of a moonless night.
garden wall —
enough moon
to go around
Francine Banwarth
(1,7,9) = 26 pts
sudden rain —
umbrellas mushroom
on the street
Gautam Nadkarni
(0,8,10) = 26 pts
Can't you just see umbrellas springing up like mushrooms?
Fifth Place -- 25 points
night
settles on the city
starling by starling
Kilah C
(1,6,10) = 25 pts
I’ve had this impression and it exactly captures it.
Sixth Place -- 22 points
homeless man
the postman delivers
a smile
Elena Naskova
(2,4,8) = 22 pts
September wind
a school bus pulls away
from summer
Melissa Spurr
(2,3,10) = 22 pts
Seventh Place -- 21 points
evening walk —
two fasting monks debate
the color of hunger
Edward
(0,6,9) = 21 pts
This one is nearly too slick but I chose it because “…the color of hunger” stays with me.
Eighth Place -- 20 points
in the shipwreck
a china doll
with open eyes
Karen J. McClintock
(2,2,10) = 20 pts
family day —
my house too small
for their voices
Gryta Wansdronk
(1,3,11) = 20 pts
winter sunset
the beggar's shadow
grows thinner
Melissa Spurr
(0,4,12) = 20 pts
The light and the beggar both getting thinner.
“beggar” is sometimes done unto death and many haiku using that theme will earn only a passing glance. Not this one. There’s no overt emotionalism, no bejeweled finger. It’s simply put, open to interpretation within its framework, each word on equal footing and strong taken all together.
Ninth Place -- 17 points
first day of school
his backpack
filled with summer
David Grayson
(3,1,6) = 17 pts
hunger pangs
the vending machine
eats a dollar
Collin Barber
(0,3,11) = 17 pts
Tenth Place -- 16 points
crowdedtrainpressedbetweenstrangerswarmbacks
Jan O'Loughlin
(1,3,7) = 16 pts
This poem takes the form of a crowded train.
Eleventh Place -- 15 points
spring fog
only the rhythm of wooden boats
knocking together
Kate Creighton
(1,2,8) = 15 pts
Twelfth Place -- 13 points
picket fence
she repaints his dream
each spring
Terra Martin
(2,2,3) = 13 pts
paper parasol
a soft rain
of cherry blossoms
Nancy Nitrio
(1,1,8) = 13 pts
short days
the old woodcarver
goes with the grain
tom painting
(0,3,7) = 13 pts
And what else should we do with what we can’t change and what we can. Is there a name for haiku that also act as maxim?
between the fog
and the fence
daffodils
Kate Creighton
(0,2,9) = 13 pts
Thirteenth Place -- 12 points
early darkness
the warmth
of her kiln
tom painting
(2,1,4) = 12 pts
combat medals
the times he never
talks about
Catherine J.S. Lee
(0,2,8) = 12 pts
Fourteenth Place -- 10 points
hauling firewood—
the wheelbarrow and I
both wobbly
Terri L. French
(0,3,4) = 10 pts
morning mist
the milkman's voice
from door to door
Jacek M.
(0,2,6) = 10 pts
Fifteenth Place -- 8 points
evening hush
a kayak parts
the duckweed
Susan Constable
(0,3,2) = 8 pts
same gum
under the same desk
repeating the class
Warren Gossett
(0,2,4) = 8 pts
turning cold
an old man asks
what day it is
Bill Kenney
(0,1,6) = 8 pts
I love the disjunction here, the subtle awareness of season and day that both the poet and old man hold, even without being able to pin them down in exactness.
homeless guy
the santa hat finally
in season
Roberta Beary
(0,0,8) = 8 pts
Sixteenth Place -- 6 points
dusting off
his baby picture —
the convict's mother
John Thompson
(0,2,2) = 6 pts
Seventeenth Place -- 4 points
lightning —
her grip on his umbrella
tightens
Zhanna P. Rader
(0,1,2) = 4 pts
show and tell
for the AA meeting —
ship in a bottle
andrea
(0,0,4) = 4 pts
Eighteenth Place -- 2 points
the magic of rain
under one large umbrella
three strangers
gerry bravi
(0,0,2) = 2 pts
Nineteenth Place -- 1 point
the old man
watching his cat watch the mouse
falls asleep
Bill Hudson
(0,0,1) = 1 pts
joint custody
trying to figure out
the bus schedule
Diane Mayr
(0,0,1) = 1 pts
COMMENTS:
The kigo "fog" produced the haiku I liked best this year -- full of simple observation that speaks to me deeply.
Thanks to all who keep making the Shiki Kukai possible!
Great bunch - very hard to choose!
Thanks for the opportunity of reading the fine poetry!
What a wonderful exhibition of moments. Very hard to judge, very good to get involved with.
Thank you Kukai Team for another challenging and successful year of Kigo poems!
What a great read. I remember many of these great images and clear sense of seasons. Loved them.
(Kigo Poems) 5, 16, 17, 18, 22. Each of these is unique yet very natural, not at all forced. It may be my mood, but each seems to evoke a feeling of melancholy.
Great batch of Kigo poems to choose from. Very inspiring!
I wish I had more Free Format votes to distribute! Very enjoyable process, as ever.
At this level of excellence, choosing between "best" and "second best" is an indulgence in personal taste, not excluding personal quirks and personal prejudices. So here's an objective pat on the back to all the poets in both categories.
The number of outstanding Free Format poems made it nearly impossible to narrow it down to just my 6 favorites!
This collection of winning haiku in the free format shows a tendency to sadness. It is - indeed - a mirror of our time.
Thanks for keeping the kukai alive.
Thank you again, Team, for the year-long inspiration. The monthly Kukai has helped me become a better writer.
No. 22, 29, and 34 Free Format; The starlings, the daffodils and the moon against night sky and fog, all soft light images that captured and drew me in.