The Shiki Monthly Kukai

February 2007 Kukai

Here are the results for the February 2007 Kukai, wherein our Kigo subject was "Crocus" and our Free Format subject was "Dreary".

Congratulations to Carol Raisfeld, winner of our Kigo section and to Jacek Margolak, 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.

February 2007 Results
Kigo Theme: Crocus	Free Format Theme: Dreary
First Place -- 29 pts crocus . . . the balloon-man returns to the park Carol Raisfeld (1,6,14) = 29 pts ** Like the oblique reference to the e.e. cummings poem. ** e. e. cummings territory. Perhaps it could have stopped at "returns." Second Place -- 22 pts first crocus I make a promise I can't keep Tom Painting (1,5,9) = 22 pts ** The special kind of ku that feels as though anybody could have written it, now that somebody has. Third Place -- 20 pts crocus in grandmother's hand spring again Dany Fisher (1,4,9) = 20 pts ** Nicely understated, even though "again" could be dispensed with. Fourth Place -- 18 pts budding crocus ~ the closed door of my daughter's bedroom Paul Hodder (1,2,11) = 18 pts ** A perennial spring theme, deftly handled. warm breeze a white crocus where the snowman was RaV (0,2,14) = 18 pts ** a fluid way to show the changing seasons. Fifth Place -- 17 pts first crocus . . . so hard to be original Francine Banwarth (0,4,9) = 17 pts Sixth Place -- 16 pts lonely crocus a hole in the snow just big enough -me- (1,5,3) = 16 pts Seventh Place -- 15 pts first crocus a new spring to my step Susan Constable (2,2,5) = 15 pts crocus buds — a neighbor's Christmas lights still flashing Dustin Neal (1,3,6) = 15 pts Eighth Place -- 14 pts first crocus... she leaks my secret ed markowski (2,1,6) = 14 pts sunny day... first crocus in the garden of a late neighbour Rita Odeh (1,1,9) = 14 pts this crocus like your friendship still surprises Beverley George (0,4,6) = 14 pts Ninth Place -- 13 pts my first crocus bobbing down the street in a child's hand Rose Marie Stutts, EdD (0,3,7) = 13 pts wild crocus my finger touches a saffron moon Ron Moss (0,4,5) = 13 pts onions sprouting in the pantry — outside, a crocus Barbara Snow (0,5,3) = 13 pts Tenth Place -- 12 pts first crocus — grandpa doesn't remember his password Israel López Balan (0,3,6) = 12 pts blue crocus . . . the scented letter returns unopened Kathy Lippard Cobb (0,2,8) = 12 pts crocus buds a new life stirring in her belly Karen Briggs (0,2,8) = 12 pts Eleventh Place -- 10 pts One single crocus Solitary survivor Of a lost garden Deirdre A. Godwin (1,2,3) = 10 pts our first crocus — the neighbor's child reaches to pick it Mary Lee McClure (1,2,3) = 10 pts Twelfth Place -- 9 pts crocus in the old snow glacier blue Beth Powell (2,0,3) = 9 pts first crocus what’s left of a snowdrift beside the fence DeVar (1,1,4) = 9 pts after her chemo... the first blade of a crocus Joshua O Wikoff (0,2,5) = 9 pts crocuses on the snow I am looking in your sky-blue eyes Piotr Mogri (0,3,3) = 9 pts ** nice! This seemed very spiritual. Thirteenth Place -- 8 pts frozen ground the crocus and i wait for spring Judi Honiker (0,3,2) = 8 pts first crocus after recess soggy mittens dot the playground Edward (0,2,4) = 8 pts red crocus she slowly removes her rubber gloves Petar Tchouhov (0,1,6) = 8 pts Fourteenth Place -- 7 pts a crocus field — the breeze plucks off one... blue butterfly Tom Maretic (0,2,3) = 7 pts yellow crocus the class of children burst into song kjs (0,1,5) = 7 pts crocus bed: outside the Buddhist Temple a street beggar -- ushi (0,1,5) = 7 pts mountain echo the crocus never come too soon Collin Barber (0,1,5) = 7 pts Fifteenth Place -- 6 pts first crocus — my neighbor's pet pig is missing ito (0,2,2) = 6 pts dew spills over the crocus lip a groundhog's shadow Pris Campbell (0,1,4) = 6 pts nursery crocus… the half-open hands of the napping baby Keiko Izawa (0,1,4) = 6 pts in front of the dryer vent a sea of purple crocus Michiko (0,0,6) = 6 pts Sixteenth Place -- 5 pts another birthday — crocuses in my garden fade away again Dorota Pyra (1,1,0) = 5 pts foolhardy — early crocus braves the snow Geoff Sanderson (0,2,1) = 5 pts first crocus a starling and I have it to ourselves Bill Kenney (0,1,3) = 5 pts now at dawn the snowman becomes water — white crocuses Lech Szeglowski (0,1,3) = 5 pts starless night — a white crocus opens to the dawn Nancy Smith (0,0,5) = 5 pts Seventeenth Place -- 4 pts Crocus underfoot I step toward the door this time goodbye Harvey Jenkins (1,0,1) = 4 pts the clouds break crocuses fill with an inner light max verhart (1,0,1) = 4 pts this morning in spite of the winter a blue crocus Jasminka Predojevic (1,0,1) = 4 pts victory garden surrounding the crocus young dandelions Bill Hudson (0,1,2) = 4 pts morning twilight saffron waits within the crocus Mark Hollingsworth (0,1,2) = 4 pts snow on the crocuses sunshine oga (0,1,2) = 4 pts first crocus — the new kid waves goodbye Roberta Beary (0,1,2) = 4 pts white crocus in her old flower garden the first sign Magdalena Dale (0,1,2) = 4 pts a crocus by the back door — distant thunder Ami (0,1,2) = 4 pts spring equinox without fanfare — the crocus Jeannie Martin (0,0,4) = 4 pts Eighteenth Place -- 3 pts crack in the parched soil first crocus Sjs (0,1,1) = 3 pts first sunny day after weeks of storms yellow crocus Bridget Cougar (0,1,1) = 3 pts From the wet soil a bud appear — the first crocus miorita (0,1,1) = 3 pts in the charred ruins of an old farmhouse . . . white crocus flowers -- Richard Kay (0,1,1) = 3 pts first crocus — being watered by the neighbour's dog Pia Sousa (0,1,1) = 3 pts Purple crocus — vibrant in her sterile hospital room Leslie Montgomery (0,1,1) = 3 pts along the river two lines of light: croci in bloom Vasile Moldovan (0,1,1) = 3 pts Remembrance crocus granddad planted in his time — their burst of color Zhanna P. Rader (0,1,1) = 3 pts crocuses bloom — I stand up searching for familiar birdsongs Audrey Downey (0,0,3) = 3 pts Green crocus tips Still frozen pond I finger seed packets yositaka (0,0,3) = 3 pts Nineteenth Place -- 2 pts farewell winter sweet crocus is here miriam chaikin (0,1,0) = 2 pts Crocus in beautiful colours! A magnificently and picturesque scenery Finally spring! Edith (0,1,0) = 2 pts ** Lingered on many of the "snow & crocus" haiku but finally went with this one because the seed packets echo and reinforce the promise of the crocus in the first line. early crocus blooming in hazel shade her son's first steps anonymous (0,1,0) = 2 pts who's out back dog gallops past the crocus ears flapping assu (0,1,0) = 2 pts ** I love the animation in this! my dog's tail and a few crocuses over falling sun Corneliu Traian Atanasiu (0,1,0) = 2 pts waiting for the crocuses... withered leaves even more withered anonymous (0,1,0) = 2 pts weighted down by these purple blossoms first crocus Bruce Ross (0,1,0) = 2 pts first crocus — trying to survive my catch cold Cornelia (0,1,0) = 2 pts balmy winter — crocus greets the groundhog Tristan Coleridge (0,1,0) = 2 pts watching through frozen window for the crocus April Serock (0,0,2) = 2 pts our goblets raised to the light — crocus in bloom Marianna Monaco (0,0,2) = 2 pts laughter amongst the purple crocus last snowflakes gourdman (0,0,2) = 2 pts crocus blooms spring's first freshness purple moonshine Ben Gieske (0,0,2) = 2 pts Under snow hidden treasures lie — white crocus. Trevor Camp (0,0,2) = 2 pts sun showers the yellow crocuses splattered with mud Sue Stanford (0,0,2) = 2 pts flowering crocus offering a drop of dew to the sparrow Stjepan Rozic (0,0,2) = 2 pts crocus in the snow the infant in purple hat and mittens anonymous (0,0,2) = 2 pts crocus in this withered field stretches my lips into a smile anonymous (0,0,2) = 2 pts Twentieth Place -- 1 pt a mockingbird sits on the pot's edge gray on the yellow crocus brephoenix snow crocuses — undulating waves flow hill to hill Terra Martin bloom crocus any more cold days I will croak DJ landscape design — where the snow melt a crocus begins to flower Daniela Bullas a bully's swollen eye after the fight — purple crocus Marie Summers first house — the movers watch out for the crocus buds Jim Swift Easter morning crocuses and so forth purple in the dirt ==S.E. Carlisle frozen city: high above the first crocus a cardinal perches -- LGD scattered sunlight — crocuses sort out the colors anonymous crocus what does it look like — a southwest clerk asks anonymous crocus buds my wife plans first pregnancy Jacek birthday sunlit crocuses in the snow Earl Keener with the rushing stream white ,pink, yellow crocuses spill downhill angelee deodhar following her mood — she points out the crocuses Mike Montreuil harvesting the stigmas of my saffron crocus for paella susan delphine delaney sun on the snow — yellow and blue tinged near the crocuses P. O. Williams found in last fall's jacket a crocus corm Meredith Stern Cavalieri end of February — a dry leaf embracing white crocus Zeljka Vucinic-Jambresic a drop of colour opens in a sea of green.. a lone crocus blooms. Martin W. Hunt months after his death checking daily for the crocus outside his gate Lynne Rees mail truck — the thaw down to the crocus leaves anonymous changing a thread — she shows the crocus tattooed on one of her breasts anonymous Twenty-first Place —no points this time, sorry. crocus in the park: such a colourful respite in the grey city! Cristian Mocanu first crocus of spring — goats are contending with each other for the white leaves ANIL ENGIN cracking sky the crocus are springing up — first stars Ginka Biliarska dead crocus ground dry and cracked standing in the shade Michael Flack flecked with earth crocus shoots spike the soil Terry Ingram crocus poking up well past Easter in the new shed's shade Charles Hansmann crocus blooms optimistic soul reaching sunward Ruth Powell a crocus i found one right below crocodile prune cold dreary winter days soon my spirits will awaken when the crocus peeks through Paul R. Cassidy This years Crocus eludes my garden Eranthis however — Ashi sunlight crocus flowers pierce through the snow martin by the chimney ruins at the old homestead site  —a bright row of crocuses Elizabeth Fanto a yellow crocus on the new folder — tomorrow’s work Marylouise Knight crocus slips upward — boots thrown into the cellar anonymous the first crocus at the garden gate I kiss my true love John Daleiden while and purple all the crocuses climb to the top of hill D.V. Rozic bruised petals there under the eaves first crocus doris kasson spring breeze admiring the crocuses in new neighbour's garden anonymous along the south wall crocus pierce winter's sleep anonymous first crocuses — another clipper forecast though Horst Ludwig Crocus under snow Harbinger of spring Interrupted Mary E. Gray each day looking closer snow crocus Ann K. Schwader North country snow Melts slowly... Crocus squirms. Mary C. Gillen icy bouquets children pick the last of the new crocus Michael Baribeau my steps between the croci one by one emile molhuysen	First Place -- 44 pts dreary day — only a gravedigger whistling Jacek (4,8,16) = 44 pts ** Brings a smile, but there's real emotional complexity here. ** Happy and sad; I had to laugh. Well done! Second Place -- 26 pts dreary day . . . he tells me all of it again Francine Banwarth (3,1,15) = 26 pts ** One breath? More like one sigh. Third Place -- 19 pts dreary morning... the taste and texture of powdered eggs ed markowski (2,4,5) = 19 pts Fourth Place -- 17 pts dreary sunday two magpies squabble over a chip Polona (1,3,8) = 17 pts Fifth Place -- 13 pts dreary day another phone call offering condolences Bill Hudson (1,0,10) = 13 pts ** "another" says it all. thick fog the same old news Susan Constable (0,4,5) = 13 pts dreary morning — I pull on the same socks I wore yesterday DeVar (0,3,7) = 13 pts dreary faces — she plays the violin in the subway Jordi Climent (0,1,11) = 13 pts Sixth Place -- 12 pts dreary day — the rain gurgles in the gutters Angèle Lux (0,2,8) = 12 pts Seventh Place -- 11 pts dreary day ~ the secrets we keep Paul Hodder (1,2,4) = 11 pts dreary alcove between sips mother asks my weight Roberta Beary (1,0,8) = 11 pts Eighth Place -- 10 pts the buzz of florescent lights deep winter Michael Baribeau (1,2,3) = 10 pts dreary skies . . . migrating geese struggle to keep formation Marie Summers (0,2,6) = 10 pts Ninth Place -- 9 pts dreary winter morning again the wail of an ambulance brephoenix (1,1,4) = 9 pts dreary light — the withered bean plants cling to their poles max verhart (0,2,5) = 9 pts dreary day — a second coat of lip balm Collin Barber (0,1,7) = 9 pts dreary weather — the corner gargoyle's mouth drips rainwater Zhanna P. Rader (0,1,7) = 9 pts dreary day I search for colour in garden books Beth Powell (0,1,7) = 9 pts dreary high tea — a fly's long walk over the host's cake Ana Cadarin (0,1,7) = 9 pts Tenth Place -- 8 pts how dreary! these tiny bones never left the nest Joshua O Wikoff (1,2,1) = 8 pts ** This one hit me in the gut-so sad! ** Well said! dreary day — he draws a stringless kite on the room wall Rita Odeh (1,0,5) = 8 pts dreary night I look at the space where the stars were kjs (0,1,6) = 8 pts Eleventh Place -- 7 pts dreary weather no customers at the car wash Meredith Stern Cavalieri (0,2,3) = 7 pts so dreary but listen! a bird sings miriam chaikin (0,2,3) = 7 pts dreary night I google her name for a hit Tom Painting (0,1,5) = 7 pts ** So modern, yet so common a moment! dreary day — their fight in the morning still with them at dinner Leslie Montgomery (0,1,5) = 7 pts dreary morning the imprint on her pillow already cool RaV (0,1,5) = 7 pts Twelfth Place -- 6 pts Look! A hummingbird Sipping spring from the feeder Dreary thoughts are gone Deirdre A. Godwin (1,1,1) = 6 pts dreary thoughts hot humid night in bed trying to sleep Michael Flack (1,1,1) = 6 pts dreary day the meter man fumbles for his flashlight Earl Keener (1,0,3) = 6 pts dreary day — an egret spreads its wings to land Ami (1,0,3) = 6 pts three nuns, almost invisible... dreary dreary day Pris Campbell (0,2,2) = 6 pts dreary forecast — stretched to the limit a worm George Hawkins (0,1,4) = 6 pts dreary day — the empty coffee cup still smells Israel López Balan (0,1,4) = 6 pts Thirteenth Place -- 5 pts Dreary clouds my only blanket shrunk with the last rain. Harvey Jenkins (1,0,2) = 5 pts return after years stairs of the old house run to nowhere Dorota Pyra (1,0,2) = 5 pts damp wool smell in from the drizzle fireplace cold Ruth Powell (0,2,1) = 5 pts dreary morning the cat peers out thru runnels of rain susan delphine delaney (0,2,1) = 5 pts dreary all those ads for Viagra in my email Sue Stanford (0,2,1) = 5 pts dismal month — now the shiki kukai wants a dreary haiku Jim Swift (0,1,3) = 5 pts ** What a perfect irony! February dawn — dreary, bare branches moving in a cold wind P.O. Williams (0,1,3) = 5 pts chair by the window a lamp on for reading in afternoon light Charles Hansmann (0,0,5) = 5 pts winter's long goodbye — the dreariness of freezing rain Mike Montreuil (0,0,5) = 5 pts dreary day — icicles melting drip, drip, drip Tristan Coleridge (0,0,5) = 5 pts Fourteenth Place -- 4 pts dreary sky… in kannon’s open arms a still pigeon Keiko Izawa (1,0,1) = 4 pts constant drizzle at noon sparrows and wind chimes still silent Edward (1,0,1) = 4 pts life so colourful and joyous what is dreary Pia Sosua (1,0,1) = 4 pts dreary morning — the old women sings her last hymn Dustin Neal (0,2,0) = 4 pts dreary day another planeload of bodies home from the war Karen Briggs (0,1,2) = 4 pts ** Oh, yes... dreary park at the statue of Venus two snails making love Ginka Biliarska (0,1,2) = 4 pts dreary day the snow fox’s shadow grows fainter martin (0,1,2) = 4 pts Between this and that shadow and dust dreary road Ashi (0,0,4) = 4 pts this winter a fresh new meaning for dreary Mary Lee McClure (0,0,4) = 4 pts Fifteenth Place -- 3 pts dreary sky — birds in the tree form a leafy pattern ito (1,0,0) = 3 pts dreary morn unclear thoughts too cold to think Dr. Wm Fraenkel (0,1,1) = 3 pts blackish snow shrinks off beer cans and wrappers dreary clouds gourdman (0,1,1) = 3 pts dreary my husbands disposition after doing the taxes carmel lively westerman (0,1,1) = 3 pts fourth of July unpacking the muddy tent Barbara Snow (0,1,1) = 3 pts on the highway only the car's looming shadow — Death Valley Lech Szeglowski (0,1,1) = 3 pts midnight dreary — clocks strike twelve for hours Anil Engin (0,0,3) = 3 pts dark and dreary . . . the filthy child draws a sunny day Kathy Lippard Cobb (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary afternoon — turkeys wandering in a village playground Tom Maretic (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary street tinfoiled windows blind to spring Terry Ingram (0,0,3) = 3 pts another day gray skies gray walls gray desk colorless life DJ (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary sky — from the yellow foliage rain of light Corneliu Traian Atanasiu (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary afternoon yesterday's snow without a sparkle Sandra Nickel (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary night cloud shadows swallow the moon soji (0,0,3) = 3 pts dreary summer day the ice cream van's jingle in the distance Lynne Rees (0,0,3) = 3 pts candle-lit skin — she laughs at how dreary her day was aom (tim) (0,0,3) = 3 pts Sixteenth Place -- 2 pts dreary day — job offer puts a little sunshine anonymous (0,1,0) = 2 pts dreary shadow falls across my day — bank statement Geoff Sanderson (0,1,0) = 2 pts gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray gray doris kasson (0,1,0) = 2 pts Low clouds my lover so far away another dreary day Yositaka (0,1,0) = 2 pts a dreary dream... just like my lone life Vasile Moldovan (0,1,0) = 2 pts dreary morning — but this afternoon her smile comes out Bill Kenney (0,1,0) = 2 pts dark and dreary was their home without her Judi Honiker (0,0,2) = 2 pts this dreary life . . . all alone, listening to the winter rain  —Richard Kay (0,0,2) = 2 pts grey sky no shadow by me dreary day Dany Fisher (0,0,2) = 2 pts no sunbeams and no drops of rain dreary day Magdalena Dale (0,0,2) = 2 pts Dreary days housebound by illness. No sunshine. Trevor Camp (0,0,2) = 2 pts dreary wet day — origami cranes soar out of children's hands angelee deodhar (0,0,2) = 2 pts another dreary day global warming news blazes from the radio anonymous (0,0,2) = 2 pts dreary sleet taking out the trash no footprints Steve Rojcewicz (0,0,2) = 2 pts my dreary day all the traffic cones point to the moon Ron Moss (0,0,2) = 2 pts fading light ... grey clouds hug the cold earth Martin Hunt (0,0,2) = 2 pts dreary slush — light from a withering moon strikes silver anonymous (0,0,2) = 2 pts dreary morn — five or six vultures in the graveyard Laurene (0,0,2) = 2 pts dreary day — nevermore magpies in the pine oga (0,1,0) = 2 pts Seventeenth Place -- 1 point should be outlawed — dreary fawn cardigans in the charity bin anonymous ** I like the way this opens out into innumerable possibilities. dreary... in open casket rests oldest friend Terra Martin Think positive thoughts Then life will turn out happy And you never ever will live a tedious day Edith ** The exception (to including the assigned word), too funny to resist. dreary day the shades of gray outside my picture window anonymous a dreary drizzle over ten day — lonesome the old man miorita dreary day — I keep turning on and off the windshield wipers Jure business world — two dreary meetings on my day off -- LGD mother tuts — the Goth outfit "so dreary" -- ushi flag-draped casket finding words to comfort fallen soldier's kin. dsnake1 in the lecture room, dozing man's head droops... last lecture to lunch Patrick Wafula all night blizzard not dreary after all this sunlit ice Bruce Ross dreary midnight the raven haired teen cries No way! anonymous dreary fall day... deciding to plant crocus bulbs anonymous My dreary dear How can I cheer you Bereft myself Mary E. Gray Eighteenth Place -- no points this time, sorry. boring and unhappy — for some, growing up it’s an option Daniela Bullas dreary day her dreary complaints about her dreary life Elizabeth Fanto so many bright faces yet to be taught no time for dreariness Rose Marie Stutts, EdD cold, dreary winter days son the spirits will awaken when the crocus peeks through Paul R. Cassidy leafless walnut dreary playhouse shades empty rabbit hutch assu dreary day... until the boss played golf in his office anonymous hapless inner sky roomed-in silence dreary February dream Ben Gieske dismal morning — I write myself awake in the warm bed Marylouise Knight dreary day funnel clouds forming Sjs morning light — barely illuminates boots by the door anonymous beneath dreary skies brown prairie grass stirs doe and fawn huddle John Daleiden remarkably the notion of gloom vanish in the sunrays of dawn Bodil fly and raindrops facing on the window-pane dreary afternoon Boris Nazansky Upon a midnight, she appeared again, naked almost, that old witch. Horst Ludwig fresh snow the old drifts still dreary Ann K. Schwader dreary outside — merrymaking in the room carnival on tv Cornelia leaden grey sky — a dreary sketch of a tree in bare branches anonymous dreary weekend rain — call from college, a broken ankle Bruce H. Feingold dreary night I am hand-coloring family photos Petar Tchouhov music practice again and again . . . even walls look dreary anonymous

Thank you all for participating in the Shiki Monthly Kukai. We will open the March kukai to submissions on Monday, March 5th. See you then!

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Robert and Jennie, co-secretaries
Gary Warner, web host

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