THF Monthly Kukai Voting Ballot — January 2026
This month’s theme:
gold
Voting for The Haiku Foundation Monthly Kukai
Shortly after the conclusion of the submission period, an anonymous ballot comprising all submitted poems on that month’s theme will be posted to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) on the THF site. Any reader of this ballot is eligible to vote for their favorite poems at this time. A voter may vote for up to five (5) poems per theme. A top vote will receive 5 points, a second-place vote 4 points, a third-place vote 3 points, a fourth-place vote 2 points, and a fifth-place vote 1 point.
Please use the Kukai voting form below to enter your selections, and then press Submit to cast your votes. No other votes will be recognized or honored. All votes must be signed (that is, no “anonymous” votes will be accepted, and the Submit button will not be available until both Name and Email fields are filled in), and no poet may vote for his or her own work. No commentary upon the poems will be accepted or published. Votes will be accepted from the appearance of the ballot on the 18th of that month through midnight of the 24th of that month. Readers may vote only once per ballot. Administrators of the kukai are ineligible to vote.
Note: Anonymity is an essential part of any kukai. If you know who wrote the poem then that entry is no longer anonymous. Please respect the Kukai and do not vote for that entry.
The Ballot
1 | a coin drops in the beggar’s bowl — sound of gold | |
2 | a failed alchemist’s love | |
3 | a golden weave intertwines the daffodils spring sprinkling | |
4 | A haloed specter Shines gold in filtered light Awakening thoughts | |
5 | a meteor storm in the darting eyes of a snowy owl | |
6 | a pre-nup signer digging gold | |
7 | a stuck teardrop in her gold nose ring . . . letter from the frontline | |
8 | a wood fence glows in red gold light magic hour | |
9 | Across the hilltop fresh snow clings to flat white sky. On the trail new straw. | |
10 | all I have all you have — is the two of us | |
11 | all that glitters doesn’t isn’t | |
12 | All that glitters Is gold in the light Discarded wedding ring | |
13 | all that remains . . . a pretty paperweight fool’s gold | |
14 | An old saxophone. Gnarly gold body tarnished — plays songs more soulful | |
15 | another chance threads of gold mend twilight sky | |
16 | Apocalypse soon Clouds of war on horizon Buy gold. Sleep later. | |
17 | april fifteenth hard-earned gold sent to the beast his eyes turn yellow | |
18 | at the funeral a tear beading her wedding band | |
19 | at the temple a canary rests in Buddha’s hands | |
20 | Australia Day . . . face painted the cricket crowd green and gold | |
21 | autumn’s gold — chemistry in disguise in market fruits | |
22 | awash in gold light fountain pen and a crossword echoes of papa | |
23 | before cremation swapping her gold bangles for glass ones | |
24 | black gold how many more lives must bleed for it | |
25 | Black Lives Matter sign a bullet hole through the L they paint it gold anyway | |
26 | blinded by its glint a heart touched by Midas turned stone cold | |
27 | bomb cyclone the marriage counselor pans for gold | |
28 | Born, burn, core-collapse, Celestial twins spiral, For your wedding ring. | |
29 | brass medals on a uniform worth more than gold | |
30 | bright sun hidden behind gray clouds — goldfinch in winter | |
31 | butterbeer — wiping the moustache off your moustache | |
32 | camp-sunset her eyes on the horizon | |
33 | caressing the mountain outline sunrise | |
34 | Charlotte’s Web gold glitter from her old bookmark | |
35 | Coffee warming hands Wistful dreams are too fleeting Golden pennies | |
36 | crack by crack grandfather reglues her old stone bird bath | |
37 | crippled child daddy’s precious hand in morning walks | |
38 | dark clouds . . . wearing my gold sweater | |
39 | Day breaks tones of gold in orange marmalade time after time | |
40 | detached gold tooth — his status symbol down the drain | |
41 | digging for gold after cutting his cake | |
42 | disturbed a gold-splotched spider shuns the sun | |
43 | divorce — the lingering ring mark | |
44 | divorce hearing the gold wedding ring on the solicitor’s finger | |
45 | dowry — the weight on father’s shoulders | |
46 | drooping lids impossible truths pierced by gold | |
47 | even the full moon has lost its gold — under the snow the village | |
48 | exchange office — gold autumn leaves and green dollars | |
49 | family brunch pointing golden croissants « are we rich? » | |
50 | family photo the glint of grandpa’s gold tooth | |
51 | far-fetched tale golden retriever collects rare books | |
52 | fast winter sunset: I’m waiting for this springtime’s longer days of gold | |
53 | fields of gold — so many sunny days in my dreams | |
54 | final game every child holds a gold trophy | |
55 | first dandelion hellos always remind me of goodbyes | |
56 | first ray — mother’s hands sow gold. | |
57 | flashes of gold twittering bits of sunshine at the feeder | |
58 | fleeting moment I imagine the shimmer in her braid | |
59 | fool’s — a sparkle in the river bed — gold | |
60 | fool’s gold his way with words | |
61 | fool’s gold passing on a tour of the current white house | |
62 | for all the ways that I took you — fool’s gold | |
63 | forsythia blackbird swaying in gold gentle breeze | |
64 | forsythia I refuse to wait for spring | |
65 | from the steel cold sky of fierce gusts and heavy rain this golden sunset | |
66 | glint of gold under grey clouds a bold crocus | |
67 | Glittering Through my wet lashes Candle flame | |
68 | goes nowhere going everywhere a goldfish | |
69 | Gold True Love’s hair | |
70 | gold young or old still she’s precious | |
71 | gold at dusk a few leaves . . . a few crows . . . | |
72 | gold bangles heavy with her mother’s absence on her wedding day | |
73 | gold fever a miner becomes home sick | |
74 | gold frankincense myrrh a noble divine savior humble handmaid bore | |
75 | gold glitter on wrapping paper on everything | |
76 | gold in the waterfall trickling — foam | |
77 | gold mining raccoons at the koi pond | |
78 | gold mining — in the child’s hands a shaking gun | |
79 | gold teeth grandma’s grin a bit wider | |
80 | golden ball cactus called mother-in-law’s chair too she doesn’t deserve that | |
81 | golden dusk the withered bat becomes the ground | |
82 | Golden hands in prayer, Grasping, she sobs for my love; Gleaming wild eyes scream. | |
83 | golden hour in the faded photograph — a spring memory | |
84 | golden hour the skyline’s reflection grazes the shore | |
85 | golden hour — I close my eyes to see the sun | |
86 | golden hydrangea — its quiet alchemy | |
87 | golden leaves . . . a biker scratches his butt | |
88 | golden necklace — parents’ last breath on her neck | |
89 | golden pinpricks through night’s inky backdrop hope’s curtain call | |
90 | golden rain through the gingko trees autumn’s wind | |
91 | golden rivals my 50th anniversary and market peaks | |
92 | golden sand forgetting the names young love | |
93 | golden sky a passerby caught in starlings’ swirl | |
94 | golden tones the changing leaves of poison ivy | |
95 | golden wedding — in the turtle aquarium champagne bubbles | |
96 | golden years a patina of age masks her face | |
97 | goldfinches feast on sunflowers gold upon gold | |
98 | Gulls cry as sun sinks Golden into ocean and Day’s splendour subsides | |
99 | hi, honey! I’m home! a goldfish in the piranha tank | |
100 | his gold-flecked eyes closed my old dog | |
101 | home sweet home . . . going for the gold monsoon clouds | |
102 | homeless camp goldenrod blooming on the sewer pipe | |
103 | hospital chapel her saline line infused with golden light | |
104 | I do’s, golden rings, full of promise hearts bursting broken vows shattered | |
105 | icy manes — in moon gold shadow snaps | |
106 | If you have thick thighs Or suffer from sweaty balls Gold Bond can help you | |
107 | January leftovers seams of gold in every pocket | |
108 | just short of alchemy . . . moonlit jasmines | |
109 | k(no)wing when to stop golden mean | |
110 | last goodbye the gold ring on her wrinkled hand | |
111 | lasting impression crows glean the cornfield against the sinking sun | |
112 | like chocolate, gold, truly appreciated only in old age | |
113 | liquid gold the river’s eddies course with veins of sunset | |
114 | lost necklace the bowerbird nest glints in the sun | |
115 | maple leaf a child brings home some gold | |
116 | maple leaf — gold catching sunlight mother’s amber | |
117 | meteor shower . . . the nightingale’s song turns to gold | |
118 | midwinter dream goldfinch on blackthorn glistening | |
119 | mist hangs over the mustard field wilting under his glare | |
120 | molten gold in the sea a sunset | |
121 | more precious than gold — his daughter | |
122 | mother’s confirmation coin promised for son’s bride the price of gold | |
123 | mountain aspens shake their tresses reign of gold | |
124 | my father’s laughter — and the gold tooth is buried | |
125 | my granddaughter writes I love you in gold memory stone | |
126 | my yellow metal — custody of pawn broker its privilege | |
127 | Nana’s gold earrings mother’s favourite my haunting memories | |
128 | New Year morning drive — gold in rearview mirror first sunrise | |
129 | no doubt the priceless gold — my mother’ s heart | |
130 | not all that glitters is gold April snow | |
131 | old bathtub between the cracks goldenrod grows | |
132 | on the sleigh a white and gold color covers the fields | |
133 | only women comb her hair with golden letters | |
134 | our being together autumn fields turning gold | |
135 | pale band of skin where once her true love pledged till death do us part | |
136 | palo verde blossoms in gold flowers every April | |
137 | panning the river grandma pauses — autumn evening | |
138 | picks & pans up into them hills forty-niners | |
139 | poseurs on the Palisades golden hour | |
140 | precious gleams in my maple tree goldfinches | |
141 | river at dawn woven into her garland golden ribbon | |
142 | river sunrise the trout’s approach to become gold | |
143 | sacred mountain? Tiffany needs more gold | |
144 | scattered glitter remains of decorations golden holiday | |
145 | silence is golden . . . or so it is said | |
146 | simple design — the first gold sticker her teacher left | |
147 | small goldcrest survives winter, tucked in the palms of a shy witchhazel | |
148 | small mountain boulder stands a snow-white baby owl trimmed in gold laced ice | |
149 | so many gold earrings . . . but without Diana’s smile | |
150 | spectacular sunset . . . sunbeams gild all clouds unaware of today’s gold rate! | |
151 | starving child the oligarch’s golden grin | |
152 | stormy bay clouds on the horizon edged with gold | |
153 | sun showers . . . her golden hair the length of summer | |
154 | sun warmed golden leaves keep falling | |
155 | sunburst an explosion of sparrows from the goldenrod | |
156 | sundown — a Ganga Aarti golds the sky | |
157 | sunglow the lady in gold shimmers — Klimt’s mosaic | |
158 | sunrise . . . simmering saffron in milk | |
159 | sunset out of the wetsuit gold-dressed | |
160 | sunset that’s where dragons come from | |
161 | sunset storm . . . wind shaking gold from the trees | |
162 | sunset’s splendor stretches across the horizon as day yields to night | |
163 | tangled paths of butterflies . . . a field of gold | |
164 | tarnished gold one more anniversary comes and goes | |
165 | tarnished office — all the gold leaf embellishing evil | |
166 | that moment when your hand touches mine turning to gold | |
167 | the devoted love of a hopeful fool gold | |
168 | The elves melted pots of sunshine and poured them on the waiting forest | |
169 | the first light on the Van Gogh motif the golden harvest | |
170 | the glow of plump golden apples . . . moonlight | |
171 | The quarter of the rich the thrift gods bless her with a new wok | |
172 | the scarce rays of the winter sun pawning mom’s gold | |
173 | the secret of gold behind the drawn blinds a wasted sunrise | |
174 | the time I climbed to the goldcrest’s nest — carefree childhood | |
175 | the war in winter converting carats to kilograms of food | |
176 | the warm flash of a gold tooth when nana smiled | |
177 | These yellow threads Weaved into riverlets of gold Winter’s last sunrise | |
178 | three crocs her new belly skin handbag fiery red, gold clasp | |
179 | tilting the pan seeking the Midas metal capturing the dawn | |
180 | tipped over fruit bowl cat’s paw touches mandarin golden orange toy | |
181 | Treasures without form. Inner and outer gratitude — that is my true gold. | |
182 | Turning tide — a gold band glints in the mud. | |
183 | two goldens retrieve each other water fight | |
184 | voices whispering behind the gold veil of the weeping willow | |
185 | Vows spoken to the wind Gold rings given tenderly Our eternal promise | |
186 | war debris — in the trophy cup fading stars | |
187 | Wattle whips my train window — sunshine all the way . . . | |
188 | wedding day the weight of the grandma’s gold heirloom ring | |
189 | wedding ring wilted peonies drop their petals | |
190 | wedding ring — in a piece of metal the autumn gold | |
191 | When you smile at me It feels like gold inside me Sushine to my eyes. | |
192 | Who am I to judge Gold bends without breaking form Rare and lasting still | |
193 | winter chill a row of marigolds hold the sun | |
194 | winter dawn light — the abandoned bike briefly burnished | |
195 | winter evening snowflakes fade into golden spangles | |
196 | winter skies . . . trees bathe in sunrise | |
197 | winter sun the first coin in beggar’s hat | |
198 | winter sun — a cormorant basks in a stream of gold | |
199 | winter switch grass . . . turning the gilt-edged pages of his onion skin bible | |
200 | winter’s eve everything under the sun gone gold | |
201 | winter’s golden sun daybreak is cold and silent a village dog barks | |
202 | worn-out soles seeking the road paved with gold | |
203 | yellow tulips in rows new stars | |
204 | you left goldenrods keep blooming here |
Kukai Results
On the first day of the following month, results of the tally of the kukai will be announced. The top vote-getters as voted by readers will be posted, along with the number of points each poem tallied, and each poem’s authorship will be revealed at this time. Winners will be invited to select from a list of prizes provided by The Haiku Foundation. The theme for the new month will be announced at the same time, and the process repeated. Poems remain the copyrighted property of their authors, but The Haiku Foundation reserves the right to publish, display and archive all submitted poems for this and other purposes at its discretion.
Congratulations to all our participants!
