August 2008 Kukai

Kigo Theme: 

Spiders

First Place – Twenty-three Points

widow's cottage ~

every spider

has a name

Paul Hodder

(2,4,9) = 23 Pts

Fortunate spiders! This is lovely.

An amusing observation of how loneliness may be kept at bay.

Second Place – Twenty-two Points

old farmhouse

the weaving loom filled

with spider silk

Melissa Spurr

(1,5,9) = 22 Pts

on the front porch

knitting beside grandmother

the spider

Bill Hudson

(1,3,13) = 22 Pts

receding clouds

a spider mends

its net

polona

(0,7,8) = 22 Pts

So simple and beautiful. Can a spider catch a cloud? Maybe when I wasn’t watching. Every day we miss something.

Third Place – Twenty Points

attic window

a spider spreads his web

on the moon

Jacek M.

(1,6,5) = 20 Pts

Fourth Place – Nineteen Points

house guest

a spider unfolds

with the blinds

Susan Constable

(1,2,12) = 19 Pts

Fifth Place – Sixteen Points

empty

spider's web

first frost

php

(2,2,6) = 16 Pts

Empty with transparent nothing in. Thin, white threads and my foggy breath. Not even a spider.

This made me want to try to see this in my own yard this year!

old easel -

in the spider's web

a still life

Dorota Pyra

(0,4,8) = 16 Pts

Sixth Place – Fifteen Points

dockside

a spider web nets

the setting sun

tom painting

(2,1,7) = 15 Pts

I appreciate the skillful weaving and word choice here.

Seventh Place – Fourteen Points

on my computer,

a spider

viewing the web

Jyothirmai Gubili

(1,4,3) = 14 Pts

A great dual use of spider as literal and also as a bot churning across the internet.

Eighth Place – Thirteen Points

summer cleaning

a spider takes shelter

under the buddha

Tore Sverredal

(0,4,5) = 13 Pts

The perfect place to seek refuge. This is delightful.

Ninth Place – Twelve Points

twilight --

a spider's shadow

climbs the screen

Ann K. Schwader 

(0,3,6) = 12 Pts

Twilight and a shadow on a screen. I love how everything in this haiku is on the edge of something else.

Tenth Place – Eleven Points

starry night

the spider's web

studded with moths

ed markowski

(1,2,4) = 11 Pts

I love this image - to me, it's a really 'living' haiku.

As with several of the submissions, I get a déjà vu feeling that something like this has been offered in the kukai before. But I like it. I like "Starry Night," too.

spider web

the sunrise caught

in its dew

N. C. Whitehead

(1,2,4) = 11 Pts

a spider

diligently repairs

the hole in my shed

Frederick C. Gier

(0,4,3) = 11 Pts

Eleventh Place – Ten Points

garden spider

a ripe plum tomato

just beyond its web

jt

(1,2,3) = 10 Pts

again

in the spider's web

that useless moon

Beth Powell

(1,1,5) = 10 Pts

I like the idea of all the web's unintended "catches"

Twelfth Place – Nine Points

new house...

a spider comes out of

the book carton

K. Ramesh

(0,2,5) = 9 Pts

Cue the music from Jaws.

every night somehow

the front door spider and I

forget each other

Shelley Krause

(0,1,7) = 9 Pts

Thirteenth Place – Eighth Points

spring cleaning

moving the spider web

to another corner

TV

(1,1,3) = 8 Pts

flat calm

a spider climbs

the rigging

Josh Wikoff

(1,1,3) = 8 Pts

house spider

in our corners we wait

for each other

jblain

(0,3,2) = 8 Pts

Fourteenth Place – Seven Points

web compass

a spider points out

eight directions

john tiong chunghoo

(0,1,5) = 7 Pts

Spiderweb as alternative aid to wayfinding... I like it.

only a speckled

spider for company

harvest moon

sheila windsor

(0,1,5) = 7 Pts

bomb shelter —

devastated by a broom

the spider's web

Gautam Nadkarni

(1,1,2) = 7 Pts

Broom/boom/bomb brilliant!

traveling spider

a bit of the summer cabin

comes home with me

Audrey Downey

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

Spider webs and summer cabins are absolutely synonymous, aren't they? This has a light yet wistful undertone for me.

dusk lightning

a spider brings out

the killer in me

Collin Barber

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

school holidays --

another spider caged

in a milk bottle

David Caleb Mutua

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

shower stall--

no room for me

and the spider

LGD

(0,0,7) = 7 Pts

first night without him-

a daddy long- legs

shares her bedroom

Leslie Montgomery

(0,1,5) = 7 Pts

This refers to a spider where I come from; maybe not to everyone.

typhoon debris

a spider

starts over

Jan O'Loughlin

(0,0,7) = 7 Pts

abandoned hut -

a little spider

close to the moon

Israel Lopez Balan

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

Fifteenth Place – Six Points

baby spiders

balloon to safety

the market falls

Jo McInerney

(1,1,1) = 6 Pts

one spiderweb

followed by another

how the years go by

Ella Wagemakers

(0,2,2) = 6 Pts

Our years do seem to unfold like a continuous strand of spider silk, and this haiku phrases the notion so very well. This is sublime.

spider silk —

what's spun

out of ourselves

Bill Pauly

(0,2,2) = 6 Pts

red light

noticing the spider is

on my side of the glass

Laurene

(0,0,6) = 6 Pts

Sixteenth Place – Five Points

packing day

the wolf spider in my box

--can't take everything!

bre

(0,2,1) = 5 Pts

tiny ripples on

still water...

a raft spider runs across

Rose Marie Stutts

(0,2,1) = 5 Pts

It could have been written better, but I like the essence. A raft spider running through the water circles.

hens fighting

over a dead spider --

windy evening

Mary Kaleche

(0,1,3) = 5 Pts

rainy day – 

in the spider's cobweb 

only a petal

Miorita

(0,1,3) = 5 Pts

a spider webs

my bike to the house

day old bread

DeVar

(1,1,0) = 5 Pts

Seventeenth Place – Four Points

a gingerbread horse

on an old cupboard

ridden by a spider

Zeljka Vucinic Jambresic

(0,2,0) = 4 Pts

What a surrealistic scene, a great one. The one from the flashing kind seen in the childhood and forgotten.

destroying

the spider's home

to keep mine clean

Shernaz Wadia

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

leg missing a spider completes the web

w. f. owen

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

stuck ...

and the spider

dancing

carol pearce-worthington

(1,0,1) = 4 Pts

spider's sticky trap

clings as I walk through:

I perform web dance

Penelope Sargent

(0,2,0) = 4 Pts

Heralding the autumn, 

in a spider's web

the first leaf

Vasile Moldovan

(1,0,1) = 4 Pts

cricket call caught

in a silken scaffold

summer's end

Marilyn Hazelton

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

garden gate

I walk through the spiderweb

woven last night

Sherry Weaver Smith

(1,0,1) = 4 Pts

august moonlight...

a spider walking

on a pond

Li Ree

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

summer's end

the spider's shadow

from here to there

Sjs (Stevie)

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

summerhouse

the spiders death

page three

mare

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

Eighteenth Place – Three Points

little black spider

fragile life literally

hanging by a thread

if

(1,0,0) = 3 Pts

early morning

walk , dodging

spider webs

terrytip

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

heat fatigue

the spider and I

laid out flat

andrea

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

Nice bit of equality and humor.

Does the spider conserve body moisture this way? Both being laid out adds to the heat effect for the reader, anyway.

spider's maze -

little suns glow

in the breeze

Narayanan Raghunathan

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

i spied her first

hidden in the fretwork

-- the spider

miriam chaikin

(1,0,0) = 3 Pts

I like the unnamed person in this.

a small spider

tethering the tropic palm

to the evening heat

Michael McClintock

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

A cemetery –

a spider wove a web

on the fallen cross.

Zoran Antonic

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

home invasion

the spider's web

captures a fly

Meggy

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

still waiting...

full moon fills

spider's web

Gosia Zamorska

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

April morning jog

pair of dew drops shivering

in a spider's web

Ben Gieske

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

space walker

just that spider

spinning in the moonlight

Barbara Snow

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

spider,

in a snore

you were gone

1bodhisattva

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

This one has 8 little feet tickling in my trachea.

Startling! I can see somebody’s open mouth. Somebody who doesn’t even has a name, just like earthquake. Poor spider, finished with such an unnecessary death!

a dead fly stuck

in a dewy spider's web --

sunny morning

James Bundi

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

honeysuckle moon

a spider finds its 

point of rest

Francine Banwarth

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

ballooning

in the morning updraft

tiny spiders

Bridget Cougar

(1,0,0) = 3 Pts

grey mandala

between the holly-hocks--

orb-weaver

Gene Doty

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

new curtains

on the future window -

the spider's creation

Mirko Varga

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

weaving

summer into fall . . .

wandering spider

Mary Davila

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

General Comments:

There was so much lovely poetry but I chose the three that painted the most vivid picture in my mind's eye.

Free Format Theme:

Home Improvement

First Place – Twenty-six Points

our marriage

falling apart

he patches the roof

Carolyn Coit Dancy

(1,6,11) = 26 Pts

I really love the irony in this one with its allusion to the uselessness of linear logic in feeling situations!

new moon

filling a crack

in the skylight

Melissa Spurr

(1,6,11) = 26 Pts

Fine double resonance on "filling a crack"

Second Place – Twenty-Three Points

new sunroom

the dog

claims his spot

Frances McCarthy

(0,5,13) = 23 Pts

Of course. The most important entities get first choice.

Third Place – Nineteen Points

a cold night —

stuffing the gap between

the walls and the roof

David Caleb Mutua

(2,5,3) = 19 Pts

new design

the moon rises

in an antique mirror

ed markowski

(2,4,5) = 19 Pts

Fourth Place – Seventeen Points

for the leaky roof

finally

a new bucket

Beth Powell

(1,3,8) = 17 Pts

I love the ironic humor here! The author seems to have known my father.

LOL! Nice turn-around on the theme.

porch paint

the dog next door

licks his paws

DeVar

(0,2,13) = 17 Pts

It reads either for the porch owner or dog owner.

Echo of ‘fresh varnished floor’ and a different approach too.

Fifth Place – Fourteen Points

carpet selection

we find the perfect color

in a blade of grass

Susan Constable

(1,3,5) = 14 Pts

newly

painted walls

— silence

Tina

(1,3,5) = 14 Pts

I like the starkness of this haiku, whose silence has voice. Very meditative. A haiku that will stay with me for some time.

autumn cleaning —

a desk drawer

full of dry pens

Israel Lopez Balan

(0,5,4) = 14 Pts

Waiting —

the crack in the ceiling

widens

Elena Naskova

(0,5,4) 14 Pts

Sixth Place – Thirteen Points

home improvements

the cat unclutters

the highest shelf

jblain

(2,1,5) = 13 Pts

I like that we side with the cat here.

spring warmth

we paint the baby's room

robin's egg blue

Collin Barber

(1,2,6) = 13 Pts

Seventh Place – Twelve Points

fixer upper —

happily ever after

one nail at a time

Bridget Cougar

(0,3,6) = 12 Pts

Ain't that just the way of it.

Eighth Place – Ten Points

spring cleaning

moving the spider web

to another corner

TV

(0,3,4) = 10 Pts

blue tarps

on the roof

cherry petals too

Barbara Snow

(0,2,6) = 10 Pts

The awareness of the petals seems to flutter down at the end, petal-like.

tearing down the deck,

I find a small handprint —

Tommy 1968

Jeff Hanson

(0,2,6) = 10 Pts

Ninth Place – Eight Points

home improvement —

my son asks his dad

for advice

max verhart

(1,2,1) = 8 Pts

Two very different kinds of improvement nicely brought together here.

heat wave done

she opens her window

for the western wind

Bill Pauly

(1,2,1) = 8 Pts

replacing the door —

across the home's threshold

a snail trail

Dorota Pyra

(1,1,3) = 8 Pts

Tenth Place – Seven Points

home improvement

touching up the paintwork

in Photoshop

Allison Millcock

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

home improvement

my brother's new room

in the attic

tom painting

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

Nice double-meaning here.

more water stains:

I have the plumber

on speed dial

LGD

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

A long-standing frustration.

new windows

a hummingbird watches me

re-hang the feeders

Catherine J.S. Lee

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

finishing touch

she blows out the renovation dust

from my temple

Juliusz Wnorowski

(0,2,3) = 7 Pts

Simply wonderful. I love the resonance of 'temple' here.

I like the use of "temple" here.

Eleventh Place – Six Points

spring dream —

building a tree house

to commune with the birds

Barbara Campitelli

(0,3,0) = 6 Pts

after the squall:

a new twig

in bird's beak

vishnu kapoor

(0,2,2) = 6 Pts

cleaning the closet —

a seashell

listening to the ocean

Deborah Finkelstein

(0,2,2) = 6 Pts

finally the fence!

now my house is ready

for morning glories

Tom M.

(0,2,2) = 6 Pts

This made me think about how individual all our ideas of the ideal home improvement are.

home improvement

an abusive husband

loses his key

shanna

(0,1,4) = 6 Pts

Improvement indeed! Very clever!

window enlargement

the sun bursts

through the wall

Tore Sverredal

(0,0,6) = 6 Pts

Twelfth Place – Five Points

global warming

the realtor tells me

I'll have sea views

Jo McInerney

(1,0,2) = 5 Pts

hammer

thumb

ouch

Deirdre Godwin

(1,0,2) = 5 Pts

Here's my thought process in the voting: Yes no yes.

bedroom improvement —

the silence when our eyes meet

across the old double bed

Li Ree

(0,2,1) = 5 Pts

house on the stock —

a hoarse cricket is

the sole owner

Constantin Stroe

(0,1,3) = 5 Pts

from one side

to the other —

porch chairs

ARW

(0,1,3) = 5 Pts

Thirteenth Place – Four Points

daisies

by the crumbling fence

the neighbor nails a new board

Bre

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

in my backyard —

a hummock of

red sand

gillena

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

tree house repairs

a nest of squirrels

complain

Carmel Lively Westerman

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

A charming selection of events.

crossing the grey street

all of a sudden

our whitewashed house

Adina Enachescu

(1,0,1) = 4 Pts

after the hail storm

every house

a blue bonnet

Ben Gieske

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

Didn't get this one at first until a later haiku indicated that blue tarps might be frequently used in roof repair. Couldn't see why the flower 'blue bonnet' would spring up singly after a hail storm as they may en masse after a rain on the dry prairies of Texas.

upstairs downstairs —

the new wallpaper

starts to curl

Roberta Beary

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

And they thought they were finished!

Love it! Whether it's Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy, that's a classic home renovation image.

acorn woodpecker

drilling holes in the tree —

more storage space

Leslie Montgomery

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

man of the house

raising the bedroom ceiling 

plastered

Francine Banwarth

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

our hut's rough floor

being smeared with cow dung —

mooing cows

Paul Omondi

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

house-painter

scrapes the shady side first

ladder among phlox

Gene Doty

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

the almost music

of kids hammering together

a tree fort

John Thompson

(0,0,4) = 4 Pts

leaky roof . . .

playing with his boats

in the puddle

Mary Davila

(0,1,2) = 4 Pts

Look to a kid for examples of 'If it rains lemons, make lemonade' ... at least when it ain't Their lemons!

Fourteenth Place – Three Points

once again

a hammer in my hand

lord help us all

todd eddy

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

painting the old house

but stopping at the eaves,

cobwebbed and beautiful

Michael McClintock

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

housekeeper's day off,

the flies and I

humming in the room

Gryta Wansdronk

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

unwanted construction

on the side of my house

woodpeckers

Bill Hudson

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

One more honey-do

dammit, — hoping doing it

for some Xmas peace.

Horst Ludwig

(1,0,0) = 3 Pts

room addition

loan process slows

as swallows build their nest

Harvey Jenkins

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

spring clearing...

while I repair my house

the cherry tree shades me

Vasile Moldovan

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

a red power washer —

the hummingbird defends

his petunias

jt

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

wet paint --

the old building shines

from a distance

kelvin mukoselo

(0,1,1) = 3 Pts

in the attic

a swarm of termites

redecorating

Sjs (Stevie)

(0,0,3) = 3 Pts

General Comments:

I was initially a little annoyed with what felt like an unusually high senryu-like quotient here. Then I reminded myself that I hadn't been able to even write one haiku on this subject that I felt was worthy of sharing!