The Shiki Monthly Kukai

October 2009 Seventh Annual Poets' Choice Kukai

Thank you for making a success out of our 7th Annual Poets' Choice Kukai. Voter turnout was excellent as were the many included comments. We are grateful to all of you who participated and also to all of you who enjoy reading the monthly results!

First Place winners of the Seventh Annual Kukai will receive a subscription for Volume XI of The Herons Nest expected out in April 2010.

Second Place winners will receive publications from Jim Kacian and The Red Moon Press.

Third Place winners will be gifted a patchwork pillow with haiku included, quilted by Debra Bauer.

Each of you will be contacted for arrangements.

We feel fortunate to be able to present these awards and hope all of you will visit their web sites:

The Heron's Nest --http://www.theheronsnest.com/

Red Moon Press -- http://redmoonpress.com/index.html

We will be contacting all the winners no later than November 1.

Remember as you look at the votes below that EACH of these poems has already been declared a winner during the past year. Congratulations again to all of them!!

(2,1,4 = 12) would indicate that the poem above received two 3-point votes, one 2-point vote, and four 1-point votes.

Voters comments are in italics below the respective poems.

Seventh Annual Poets' Choice Kukai Results
Kigo Poems	Free Format 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	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.

Thanks to all of you for participating throughout the year. We appreciate it. Please look for the release of the next Call for Submissions on or about Sunday, November 1, 2009.

With much appreciation,

The Shiki Monthly Kukai Team

Participate in the Shiki Monthly Kukai by choosing a link below
How it Works	Most Recent Results	Current Kukai Topics	Kukai Archives
An explanation of how the kukai functions.	The results of our most recent month!	Click here to learn about THIS month's kukai.	Previous month's results.