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December 2008 Kukai

We wish each of you, our participants and readers, a most joyous Holiday season!

We also wish to announce a very special Kukai to bring the New Year forward.

The Shiki Team of Japan, The Ehime Culture Foundation which sponsors the Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Awards, along with The Shiki Monthly Kukai Team are pleased to announce The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson!

Invitations will be sent out on New Year's Eve.

The Shiki special kukai has not been held since the year 2000 and was once a much-anticipated part of the Shiki Internet Salon Haiku Workshop kukai. An experience like no other contest offered by haiku association before or since.

The Grand Prize of a round trip to Matsuyama along with commemorative gifts to 5 higher-ranking winners will be awarded for this special Kukai.

There will be questions and we'll be happy to answer them but here is a link you should check out regarding this most wonderful opportunity.

This is a page of links to past contest results. Of interest will be these links, also. They are the haibun accounts of the last two winners, Timothy Russell—1999 and Earl Keener—2000.

These accounts are a fascinating read.

There will be additional requirements with this kukai, so please read all directions carefully when the invitations arrive.

The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson will preempt our January and February monthly kukai schedule.

Congratulations to Elena Naskova and Melissa Spurr, winners of our Kigo section and to Janice Hornburg, winner of our Free Format section!

Those who were given less than three points and who requested anonymity in such a case are so noted.

(214 = 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.

December 2008 Results
Kigo Theme: Hare or Rabbit	Free Format Theme: The Night
First Place – Thirty Points no one called she gently dusts her porcelain rabbits Elena Naskova (3,8,5) = 30 Pts The implied loneliness enhanced rather than diminished by the routine is poignant. dawn a jackrabbit springs from stillness Melissa (2,7,10) = 30 Pts Great image! As though the sun were its green light to GO... Line 1 might make a stronger contribution. Second Place – Twenty-one Points warm December day the cottontail feasts on the snowman's fallen nose Terri L. French (1,4,10) = 21 Pts Ha! Poor snowman. Very well done! Third Place – Eighteen Points           winter garden — among the  beets a quiver           of rabbit ears        Nancy Smith (1,4,7) = 18 Pts Without mentioning any hue, this builds a vividly colorful picture for me. a harvest moon the rabbit nibbles a new path through the garden Edward (1,3,9) = 18 Pts I can just see him nosing quietly by the light of the moon. A nice simple moment. I like the use of nibbles as a moving forward verb. Looks like the rabbit is doing his own harvesting. Nice one. Would be stronger without "a" in line 1 and "new" in line 2. an owl's feather marks the hare's last track — midwinter night Janice Hornburg (0,5,8) = 18 Pts An uh-oh moment! Fourth Place – Seventeen Points a startled hare moonlight leaps from track to track George Hawkins (1,3,8) = 17 Pts The movement in this one is wonderful. shadow puppets — all of this rabbit's life in my hands Dorota Pyra (1,3,8) = 17 Pts Haven't we all done this? A thumb knuckle for a twitchy nose! Interesting and original though not seasonal. So very perfect, and another subtle seasonal reference. Fifth Place – Sixteen Points fall harvest she throws the last carrot to the rabbit Carmel Lively Westerman (0,2,12) = 16 Pts At first I did not detect a seasonal reference...fine performance! A sense of finality; humdrum, but the best of the month. Sixth Place – Fifteen Points rabbit tracks in solstice light . . . craters of the moon Bill Pauly (1,2,8) = 15 Pts rising moon . . . the white flash of a hare's tail Susan Constable (0,3,9) = 15 Pts "white" might have remained implicit. The moon and the rabbit tail echo each other with contrast. Seventh Place – Thirteen Points rabbit and kitten touching white whiskers Paul O. Williams (2,2,3) = 13 Pts midwinter — I turn the rabbit ears from V to L Collin Barber (1,3,4) = 13 Pts falling snow — rabbit tracks end at the road jt (0,2,9) = 13 Pts I'm tempted to ask "Why are you telling me this?" Eighth Place – Eleven Points empty snowy field the scarecrow points to a hare Lech Szeglowski (1,1,6) = 11 Pts This is the moment I think most likely to stay with me over the course of the coming weeks. childhood dreams — looking for a rabbit in the moon Sunil Uniyal (0,4,3) = 11 Pts Ninth Place – Ten Points mid winter stars the frozen orbits of the snowshoe's eyes Garry Eaton (1,2,3) = 10 Pts This is so sad, and poignant; the universe's grandeur against the life and death cycle on earth. thin soup — till a hare Lin Geary (1,1,5) = 10 Pts a rabbit’s foot mixed in with the cut hay... bad luck Kilah C (0,3,4) = 10 Pts Strange superstition, wonderful haiku. a thin crust of snow — the jackrabbit freezes and listens DeVar (0,3,4) = 10 Pts Tenth Place – Nine Points no rabbits at the magic show my missing scarf Deborah P Kolodji (2,0,3,) = 9 Pts Eleventh Place – Eight Points quiet winter trail the giant hare there and not there Bruce Ross (1,1,3) = 8 Pts Perhaps. A bit zen...like one which scored well last month. taxi rank the fancy-dress rabbit fumbles for his watch Helen Buckingham (0,3,2) = 8 Pts Shade's of Alice's Wonderland rabbit. The humor in this one is great, for me, a blending of the white rabbit from Alice books and the Playboy bunny. Twelfth Place – Seven Points fresh snow a snowshoe hare's tracks quilt the pine grove Catherine J.S. Lee (0,2,3) = 7 Pts preschool tour the caged rabbit keeps watch Roberta Beary (0,2,3) = 7 Pts Thirteenth Place – Six Points moon over the snow a candle burning for our dead white rabbit helge t. (1,1,1) = 6 Pts last page on the calendar rabbits footprint the snow Francine Banwarth (1,1,1) = 6 Pts wolf moon — a rabbit hops into the scarecrow's hat ARW (1,1,1) = 6 Pts cocktail party — the rabbit necklace leaps her cleavage aom (tim) (1,0,3) = 6 Pts below the holly a shadow moved snow-hare bre (0,2,2) = 6 Pts hares calligraphy- patterns of moonshadows on the snow jon espen vassbotn (0,2,2) = 6 Pts the taxidermist's successful rabbit season: — the walls have ears George Hazard (0,1,4) = 6 Pts Very clever! Fourteenth Place – Five Points chased by a hunter the rabbit rubbed his foot 1bodhisattva (0,2,1) = 5 Pts full moon desert the sagebrush hare darts from his shadow Michelle Chandler (0,2,1) = 5 Pts first snow rabbit tracks appear mid trail Michelle V. Alkerton (0,1,3) = 5 Pts Could they do something more forceful than "appear"? rolling snow ... covering tracks of rabbits renaye (0,1,3) = 5 Pts Fifteenth Place – Four Points morning sun a white rabbit darts across the snow field Tore Sverredal (0,2,0) = 4 Pts white hare on the country road — autumn's end Jacek M. (0,1,2) = 4 Pts garden with rabbit trap a balanced meal Bill Hudson (0,1,2) = 4 Pts still form in hedge dusk the watching hare Frances McCarthy (0,1,2) = 4 Pts the rabbit vanishes behind a veil of snow Marylouise Knight (0,1,2) = 4 Pts by the icy pond just a round hare, and its reflection in the sky Anne Zooey Lind (0,1,2) = 4 Pts My favorite of all the haiku suggesting the rabbit in the moon. early snowfall — my leaf piles now graced with rabbit tracks Shelley Krause (0,1,2) = 4 Pts snow on snow on the path between us — hare tracks Li Ree (0,1,2) = 4 Pts Sixteenth Place – Three Points frost-struck fields — hares dance through a smouldering dawn jon davey (1,0,0) = 3 Pts peace talk — the rabbit's ears fall down Rita Odeh (0,1,1) = 3 Pts a rabbit in the patch leaps out a strawberry missing Stella (0,1,1) = 3 Pts the rabbit in the moon hides in earth's shadow Gene Doty (0,1,1) = 3 Pts lazy day . . . the tortoise slowly passes a sleeping hare Carol Raisfeld (0,1,1) = 3 Pts chilly dawn — a rabbit tail runs away into the darkness Grzegorz Sionkowski (0,1,1) = 3 Pts This creates a vivid visual, although I think a different verb, such as 'bounces', might be more effective. her furry hands hop along the pew — rabbit skin mitts andrea (0,1,1) = 3 Pts basking in sunlight the leveret becomes a hare A.M. Scarpone (0,1,1) = 3 Pts owl-light the tracks of a hare tom painting (0,0,3) = 3 Pts urban hare — in the neighborhood nibbling grass terrytip (0,0,3) = 3 Pts a rabbit books it across the library lawn exam week Agnes Eva Savich (0,0,3) = 3 Pts ducking under the porch last year's easter bunny doris kasson (0,0,3) = 3 Pts Moonlit snow hare and dog then only dog yositaka (0,0,3) = 3 Pts in a hurry across December's first snow a rabbit's tracks Jeff Hanson (0,0,3) = 3 Pts snow hare only it's tracks give it away Meredith Stern Cavalieri (0,0,3) = 3 Pts on the garden walk only the track of a hare — sipping hot tea John Daleiden (0,0,3) = 3 Pts General comments: Perhaps it's 'in the eyes of the beholder' but I had trouble assigning any points to the kigo section as 'rabbit or hare' seems to have netted work that tends toward 'whahoppened', 'so what' or forced. Not sure why. As a whole, the rabbit/hare poems seemed less than satisfying. So many had mixed kigo, and more than a few included grammatical oddities.	First Place – Forty-three Points sleepless night — the moon shifts from pane to pane Janice Hornburg (2,8,21) = 43 Pts And from pain to pain...I'm having nights like that. I really love the implied association with the homophone, 'pain.' This is a lovely haiku. Second Place – Twenty-eight Points moonless night the wind whistles into an empty bottle Tanya Dikova (2,7,8) = 28 Pts I feel the length and loneliness of the night in this. It seems that the bottle here, beyond being just 'empty,' becomes a vessel that holds the vast and infinite emptiness of nighttime. Well done. Ooh, nice one. Has a very classic feel. Truly evocative: Night, the wind, the world in a bottle. Empty? Hardly. The implications of this one are sad and lonely but very effectively expressed. night settles on the city starling by starling Kilah C (1,7,11) = 28 Pts Yes! That's just the way it happens! I really like this quiet imagery. Original and effective. Third Place – Twenty-five Points the night splits into before and after the phone call Barbara Snow (1,4,14) = 25 Pts Certain phone calls will do that. I like the tension that runs through this poem, from the first line to the last. Fourth Place – Twenty-three Points moonless night the jasmine's fragrance leads me home Jacek M. (0,7,9) = 23 Pts Fifth Place – Sixteen Points silent night the child moves inside her Josh Wikoff (0,3,10) = 16 Pts The seasonal reference has real force because it is so simple and yet radiant with meanings. Sixth Place – Fifteen Points stars long after the death of a bonfire Collin Barber (0,4,7) = 15 Pts Seventh Place – Thirteen Points the rain that stopped has started again . . . the long night Bill Kenney (2,2,3) = 13 Pts Such loneliness in so few syllables. winter night, another long train slowly passes Laurene Post (0,2,9) = 13 Pts The form compliments this one nicely. The one-line format fits very well here. Wonderful! Great simplicity, symmetry, and chemistry between the two things juxtaposed. Eighth Place – Twelve Points between street lamps the rise and fall of my shadow Agnes Eva Savich (0,1,10) = 12 Pts A rhythmic, wave-like effect to this progression as one lamp releases the tall shadow to the next, then the shadow shrinks as it nears each lamp only to grow again. Energy and even moods are also rather like this. Very evocative. Ninth Place – Eleven Points cold night . . . submerging cabbage hearts in the soup pot Michael McClintock (0,2,7) = 11 Pts Tenth Place – Ten Points howl of a dog empties the night of silence Michelle V. Alkerton (0,2,6) = 10 Pts rainy night — with every step moon under my feet Katarzyna Predota (0,1,8) = 10 Pts Eleventh Place – Nine Points goodnight kiss he takes his time Roberta Beary (0,3,3) = 9 Pts Slight, perhaps, but well-crafted, with an eloquent (and elegant) break at the end of line 2. my secret crush our shadows touch in the moonlight Meredith Stern Cavalieri (0,2,5) = 9 Pts That's really sweet! moonless night — her face in the glow of the cellphone screen Mykel Board (0,2,5) = 9 Pts A well-written 21st century haiku. A nice surprise as well as a reflection (a punning image!) Contrasts the depth of a night's darkness in a fresh way. Twelfth Place – Eight Points 2 a.m. barefoot at the window watching the snow April Serock (0,2,4) = 8 Pts long night my eyes strain the personals tom painting (0,1,6) = 8 Pts nightfall mountains near and far become one Melissa Spurr (0,1,6) = 8 Pts stillness the night after he left for war Carmel Lively Westerman (0,1,6) = 8 Pts Thirteenth Place – Seven Points imagine a haiku written 28 years ago this night John Lennon's death 1bodhisattva (2,0,1) = 7 Pts night in the valley — I follow the shepherd's call Gosia Zamorska (1,1,2) = 7 Pts silent night the holiness of trees in wet snow George Hawkins (1,0,4) = 7 Pts moonless night all shadows disappeared Derwisz (0,2,3) = 7 Pts first snowfall — newborn sleeps through the night Leslie Montgomery (0,1,5) = 7 Pts I remember that first night. Unfortunately, I still laid awake . . . listening. I love the comfort the blanket of snow brings. Fourteenth Place – Six Points longest night — the Pleiades unwind their string of lights Shelley Krause (1,1,1) = 6 Pts A nice winter sky image. a snowy owl cries from the cedars ... the night deepens Bridget Cougar (0,1,4) = 6 Pts wake — how he'd talk of the stars above the foxhole aom (tim) (0,1,4) = 6 Pts winter night the harbour light blinks across the ice Beth Powell (0,0,6) = 6 Pts autumn night only the rustle of leaves of an old novel Dorota Pyra (0,0,6) = 6 Pts Fifteenth Place – Five Points Quite alone wandering through the polar night... the lodestar Vasile Moldovan (1,0,2) = 5 Pts the old furnace creaks and groans comforting bumps in the night Bill Hudson (0,1,3) = 5 Pts A comforting sound on a cold winter's night. autumn leaves — the last bus departs almost empty Israel Lopez Balan (0,1,3) = 5 Pts The gap between the set-up (line 1) and payoff (lines 2-3) leaves the reader just enough to do. drizzly night — tiny stars dance on my glasses Isabelle Prondzynski (0,1,3) = 5 Pts the long night regular start/stop of the fridge motor if (0,0,5) = 5 Pts 3 a.m. last night the silence tonight the rain Kate Creighton (0,0,5) = 5 Pts Sixteenth Place – Four Points steep canyon walls with each rumble of thunder the night feels longer Edward (0,2,0) = 4 Pts spring night — frogs outshine the stars John Soules (0,1,2) = 4 Pts his words linger all night the patter of rain on the window polona (0,1,2) = 4 Pts embracing father for the final time — old moon in the new moon's arms jon davey (0,1,2) = 4 Pts city night last-minute shoppers jostle the homeless man's cart Catherine J.S. Lee (0,1,2) = 4 Pts A sad commentary. What is Christmas without charity and compassion for our fellow man? And I read "cart" as "shopping cart." Why say everything? arguing again long cold night Sjs (0,0,4) = 4 Pts Seventeenth Place – Three Points heading to work a raccoon's brief shadow under the old moon Harvey Jenkins (1,0,0) = 3 Pts Holy Night... twinkling stars nestled among the branches Dejan Pavlinovic (1,0,0) = 3 Pts o — this night! no moon no stars up three times to pee miriam chaikin (0,1,1) = 3 Pts all night I play hide-and-seek with the full moon Audrey Downey (0,1,1) = 3 Pts counting stars . . . huddled close, bundled up against the night Carol Raisfeld (0,1,1) = 3 Pts their first night behind a veil of clouds the smiling moon Gryta Wansdronk (0,1,1) = 3 Pts winter solstice — sparks fly from the fire towards the stars Daniela Bullas (0,1,1) = 3 Pts Lovely image of the sparks and the stars together -- warmth and cold, movement and stillness -- this haiku immediately caught my eye! lovers moon — venus and jupiter tryst at twilight Darrell Byrd (0,1,1) = 3 Pts moonlight in Ohio a frog has leapt from Basho's hand Earl Keener (0,1,1) = 3 Pts final descent . . . a hill temple lights-up the night sky kala ramesh (0,1,1) = 3 Pts night... the door closes in on a moth Nana Fredua-Agyeman (0,0,3) = 3 Pts out of the deep night first snow Marylouise Knight (0,1,1) = 3 Pts cold night I cover with my body my shadow Lech Szeglowski (0,1,1) = 3 Pts under a blanket grandma's winter tales warm the long nights frederick gier (0,1,1) = 3 Pts funnier than Letterman — midnight mockingbird Joyce Clement (0,1,1) = 3 Pts Nature's entertainment triumphs! I like the unexpected subject matter. night game — a long line of sad football fans walking home Dominic Riendeau-Krause (0,1,1) = 3 Pts shyly undressing it’s always night on the abyssal plains A.M. Scarpone (0,1,1) = 3 Pts late night calm my shadow wonders through the empty streets Elena Naskova (0,0,3) = 3 Pts a dark night one or two lights shining somewhere through the rain Garry Eaton (0,0,3) = 3 Pts parent-teacher conference a halo around the moon Deborah P Kolodji (0,0,3) = 3 Pts her skirt shorter than her boots — night out Susan Constable (0,0,3) = 3 Pts deep frost the feral kittens curl into the night jill (0,0,3) = 3 Pts the moon straight up — night chaser Lin Geary (0,0,3) = 3 Pts Clever! General Comments: There were so many good poems; this was a very difficult choice. 'The Night' seems to have been a very evocative choice of key words, stirring the participants to some very good haiku.

Thank you all for participating in the December 2008 Shiki Monthly Kukai.

Thanks to our poets who entered the December 2008 kukai and special thanks to our guest poet, Jane Reichhold, who lent us her work for the free format sample!

Invitations for submissions for The 2009 Shiki Special Kukai in memory of William J. Higginson will be sent on New Year's Eve. See you then!

With much appreciation,

Robert Bauer, Secretary
Gary Warner, Web Host

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