December 2014 Kukai

Free Format Theme: 

DOG 

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First Place -   28 Points

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 cold night

a beggar and his dog

share shadows

Billy Antonio

(0,7,14) = 28 pts

**Really loved this great image.

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Second Place -  25 Points

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family vet

the weight of his words

in his eyes

John Soules

(2,4,11) = 25 pts

**resonates with me. I have an 18 and a half doxie. Glad she's still with us.

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Third Place -  21 Points

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monastery shadow

pilgrim and stray dog

sharing a meal

Gabriel Sawicki

(0,6,9) = 21 pts

**Beautiful. Stillness and togetherness of nature in a place of worship. I can picture the scene in my mind's eye...

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18 Points 

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fallen leaves

the dog bed

empty

Barbara Campitelli

(2,3,6) = 18 pts

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17 Points 

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her leash

taut with her

curiosity

Donna Bauerly

(1,3,8) = 17 pts

**I would have given it more points as a 1-liner

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16 Points 

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old dog

skirts around

my father's mood

Beth Powell

(1,2,9) = 16 pts

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13 Points 

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Thanksgiving Day-

the blind man buys his dog

a new leash

cfc

(1,2,6) = 13 pts

doggy door -

the new puppy waits until

the cat lets him in

Carmel Lively Westerman

(1,0,10) = 13 pts

the new dog -

I'm still calling it

the name of the old one

Robert Kania

(0,4,5) = 13 pts

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12 Points 

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divorced

she picks out a new

big dog

Roberta Beary

(1,0,9) = 12 pts

walking her dog --

an old lady bends

into the wind

Isabelle Prondzynski

(0,4,4) = 12 pts

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10 Points 

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old man and his dog

walking toward the sun

winter rice fields

Yukiko Yamada

(1,2,3) = 10 pts

with each whistle

the shepherd

turns the flock

Edward

(1,0,7) = 10 pts

**I like the way the shepherd can be the dog or the man. I have seen this, watched this, and love the implications and the flow that creates a vivid picture.

holidays...

the old dog leads straight

to her grave

S.E. Buffington

(0,2,6) = 10 pts

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9 Points 

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spring - - 

a distant dog barking

echoes the cuckoo

Svend A. Doggfall

(0,2,5) = 9 pts

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8 Points 

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pampas grass

and a golden retriever

sharing the breeze

Barbara Snow

(1,0,5) = 8 pts

midnight

a dog in the neighbourhood

barkness

helge t.

(0,2,4) = 8 pts

**barkness very clever!

**Very good! Would it be even better if you left out "a dog"?

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7 Points 

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howling moon--

a toddler answers

the street dogs

Yesha Shah

(1,1,2) = 7 pts

sunglasses

girl with a dog reads a book

with her fingers

Krzysztof Kokot

(0,3,1) = 7 pts

**Good observation, and a clever haiku!

sunlit sea-

a dog running after

its reflection

Rita Odeh

(0,1,5) = 7 pts

back seat

my dog snaps

at the wind

Alan S. Bridges

(0,1,5) = 7 pts

sleeping dog

with head on his

dead master's slippers

Frances O'Keeffe

(0,1,5) = 7 pts

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6 Points 

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walking the dog

the vibrations of my mobile

my very own leash

Angèle Lux

(1,1,1) = 6 pts

thanksgiving dinner

the quiet of strangers

until the dog arrives

jill

(1,0,3) = 6 pts

**I don't believe I've ever awarded 3 points to a haiku before, but this one deserves it.

rest stop

the collie slips his leash

and heads home

Carolyn Coit Dancy

(0,2,2) = 6 pts

fetch!

my old mongrel opens an eye

and closes it again.

dsnake1

(0,2,2) = 6 pts

path finder --

the dog leads

the blind

Kumarendra Mallick 

(0,1,4) = 6 pts

early morning -

in front of the pretzel shop

a curled up dog

Dan Iulian

(0,1,4) = 6 pts

snowbound . . .

the old dog gnaws

at an old bone

Carole MacRury

(0,1,4) = 6 pts

snowbound

my old dog

satisfies an itch

Tom Painting

(0,0,6) = 6 pts

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5 Points 

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dancing snowflakes

the merry jingle

of my dog’s tags

Michele L. Harvey

(0,2,1) = 5 pts

beneath her palm

dachshund's cooling body--

December ice storm

Doris

(0,2,1) = 5 pts

Hannah do tell me,

When we brought you to our home

Just who rescued whom?

Robert C .Howard

(0,2,1) = 5 pts

first snow…

flicking snowballs from

her paws

D W Skrivseth

(0,1,3) = 5 pts

sunshine -

a white mongrel lapping

the rainbow

Arvinder Kaur

(0,1,3) = 5 pts

dog years

the kids start asking

google

Dan Schwerin

(0,1,3) = 5 pts

a chimney swift

perks the dog's ears

. . . snowy night

Michael McClintock

(0,0,5) = 5 pts

first season

my labrador's belly

full of puppies

Ramesh Anand

(0,0,5) = 5 pts

my bichon frisé

playing in the snow

....somewhere....

Jon Espen Vassbotn

(0,0,5) = 5 pts

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4 Points 

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damp pillow...

dogged by these

morning blues

Pat

(1,0,1) = 4 pts

after divorce

our furtive glances

her dog's wagging tail

Binnoo

(0,0,4) = 4 pts

lonesomeness -

the dog carries your coat

to its nook

Lavana kray

(0,0,4) = 4 pts

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3 Points 

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parking lot-

on my car's wheel the dog marks

its territory 

Kashinath Karmakar

(0,1,1) = 3 pts

winter night –

the puppy sleeps with

a plush cat

Miorita

(0,1,1) = 3 pts

I free my shoulders

from her dog's greeting paws -

she says for him "sorry."

Zhanna P. Rader

(0,1,1) = 3 pts

he mouths

meatless marrow bones...

the toothless dog

Kirsty Karkow

(0,0,3) = 3 pts

a stray dog

sleeping under a car--

wintry dawn

R.K.Singh, Dhanbad

(0,0,3) = 3 pts

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2 Points 

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a Facebook photo - 

pleading eyes of a lost dog

asking for repost

Natalia Kuznetsova

(0,1,0) = 2 pts

best part of my day

my dog barking joyously

upon my return

Deirdre Godwin

(0,1,0) = 2 pts

My hounds tooth jacket

Makes a comfy Beaglenest

For a wee cat nap.

Jim Thoune

(0,1,0) = 2 pts

firetruck a chorus of howls in the neighborhood

Stevie Strang

(0,1,0) = 2 pts

dog-shaped mounds

of fresh snow

fifth week of night

Ignatius Fay

(0,0,2) = 2 pts

dazzling white -

except where the dog piss

marks the new snow

Laurene

(0,0,2) = 2 pts

claps of thunder 

the trembling dog hides 

under the bed

Barbara A. Taylor

(0,0,2) = 2 pts

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1 Point 

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drug dog

sniffing my groin -

good grief, what's next . . .

Garry Eaton

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

homeward ...

over withered fields

now, old “basho”

dust

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

chin on her leg

it's mournfully eyes

foretelling the future

Bill Hudson

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

labrador

pricks up her ears

Mom's car door slams

assu

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

arriving home

only a one-eyed sleepy welcome

from man's best friend

Bernard Gieske

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

first snowflakes

the slumbering dog

snaps at them

Ramona

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

depending 

on the kindness of strangers 

Lab Retriever 

Gregory Longenecker

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

hunter dog

in the pointing stance –

the camera's ready

Tomislav

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

old friends

neither minding the smell of

mothballs and wet dog

Diane Mayr

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

used to wait 

for silence here old crony you rest 

for rabbits

Ralf Bröker

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

another bad dog 

keeps us awake all the night -

lack of forgiveness

Cristina Oprea

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

begging to be walked-

the old dog fetches

its leash

Anonymous

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

huskies yipping --

the mountain is dressed

in fresh snow

Ruth Powell

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

long winter nights--

our dachshund

settles down early

James Dobson

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

each night

the old dog welcomes me

not today

jone rush macculloch

(0,0,1) = 1 pts

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No Points This Time, Sorry. 

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my four legged friend 

eating grass again

green teeth

Tom Conally

jigsaw puzzle 

a dog's glance joins 

the broken biscuit

Ajaya Mahala

the month of the dog - 

the beginning of the end 

of a climate change?

Daniela Bullas

The dog's dozing. -

Fresh thethanksgivingeveningfirstblackfridaytraffic.

Horst Ludwig

morning walk

moon eyes on each other

Danielle and Willow

Alegria Imperial

in mornings of melancholy

the dust sits by the bed

giving paw

Oddbjørn Aardalen

tar on his paws

sheepdog roused from the shade

surprised at the fuss

Sheila K. Barksdale

the fisherman comes

ashore with heaps of fish...

a mongrel watches

Keith A. SIMMONDS

 a silver strand

of silken poodle hair --

I sip my wine

maxianne

barking mad

a booth for photos of your dog

with Santa

Elaine Riddell

dog days—

ice cube melting

between moans

Carl Seguiban

wagging tail

my puppy

I should thank YOU

Anonymous

sun dog . . .

pause on the walk

for some yellow snow

Bill Pauly

belly deep in white

black dog makes tail-wagging

snow art

Jane DeJonghe

DONT WALK

nose in the scrub phone in hand

we check messages

Samar Ghose

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General Comments:

**I'm a sucker for dog poems. Happy holidays to you.

**Thanks for this good work. Good topics!

**All the poems are gems justifying how important the dogs are to our family. It has been great problem to select just three poems.

**So many good dog haiku...narrowing it down was difficult so I took full advantage of the number of points allowed.

**Perhaps because 'dog' tends to be taken personally, 'teling' rather than 'showing' predominates the entries.

**Wonderful multiple images, deep emotions, reverberations, lot of chuckles--I could go on. Obviously, DOG elicits a wide variety of responses. My poodle Annie thanks you for all you do and for this FREE FORM prompt.

**Thanks for your valuable effort. I enjoyed reading the entries.

**Most enjoyable read. Life would be very lonely without my dog.

**Thank you very much for this excellent theme. 

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