THF Monthly Kukai — January 2026

 
 
Welcome to the THF Monthly Kukai.

This month’s theme:
gold
 
 
 
Note: Anonymity is an essential part of any kukai. Please respect this to offer the reader (and voter) the opportunity to choose only the poem.

The THF Kukai Overview

A kukai is a (usually quite casual) poetry contest. The administrator of the kukai (that’s us) assigns a theme for a given writing period and posts to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) on the THF site, which is then redirected outward through our various media outlets. Poets write work to this theme during the allotted time and submit it to the administrator. The work submitted is gathered into an anonymous roster and posted to Troutswirl (The Haiku Foundation blog) for public viewing. At that time all participating poets and other interested readers may vote for their favorites. Votes are tallied and the results made public. The top winners will be acknowledged each month, and offered their choice of prizes from a list compiled by the Foundation. Please remember that everyone who votes is a winner — the process of choosing your personal favorites is not just fun, but also one of the best ways to improve your own haiku practice!

Results of Last Month’s THF Kukai

theme: bag

In December there were 168 submissions from twenty-eight countries across six continents.
One hundred voters casting ballots determined the following results.

First Prize
 
discharged home
the silence of the baby rattle
in her hospital bag
     — Ivan Georgiev (54 points - 4; 3; 4; 4; 2)
 
This brief poem suggests a greater story. That second line casts a long shadow. Something has happened. A woman has been discharged from the hospital. We are not privy to the details, but we sense deep sadness. We do not know if her child has not survived or if the infant requires extended care. The decision to not reveal the details opens the door for readers to bring their own stories, their own heartbreak to it. Deeply evocative.
 
Second Prize
 
spring
     breeze
   a
     grocery
 bag’s
        sultry
                dance
     — Lev Hart (52 points - 5; 1; 6; 2; 1)
 
Anyone who has carried groceries knows the sway of the bag as you walk, the occasional bump against your leg, but here it is not a bother. The opening kigo sets the tone, and the form — with the words dancing down the page, one to a line — captures the lighthearted spirit of the season.
 
 
Honorable Mentions
 
third month in remission
a grocery bag
of tulip bulbs
     — Randy Brooks
 
In this haiku, the opening line provides the emotional frame, and it sings with hope at the end. A sturdy spring bloom, tulips suggest new beginnings, and here we have a whole bag of bulbs. I was deeply affected by this poem.
 
bitter chill
another sleeping bag
in another doorway
     — Tracy Davidson
 
Repetition is infrequent in haiku, but here it is particularly effective. Through “another” and “another,” we understand that this is an all too familiar scene. Despair and empathy are heard in that echo. A bitter morning, indeed.
 
coming home
in the soldier's bag
forget-me-not seeds
     — Mircea Moldovan
 
What is the story behind the forget-me-not seeds in the soldier’s bag? We don’t know. But they represent the hope that someone who is no longer with us will not be forgotten. That’s at the heart of this haiku.
 
home for the holidays
the baggage we all
bring with us
     — Yvonne Cabalona
 
This is a haiku many of us can relate to. Holidays are rarely the carefree and unambiguously joyful occasions depicted in movies. For most of us, they’re complicated with expectations, hopes, and worries. As this haiku notes, that’s a lot to carry. 

Beverly Acuff Momoi is THF Monthly Kukai Commentator. She is an award-winning poet and author of how the wind sighs and Lifting the Towhee’s Song. From 2019 to 2021 Beverly served as a panelist for the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards.

Writing for The Haiku Foundation Monthly Kukai

On the first day of each month The Haiku Foundation will announce the kukai theme for that month. This theme should be the topic of your poem, and may be stated (by using the theme word or words) or implied. Form may be traditional (three-line, 5-7-5) or free (various numbers of lines and/or syllables). Season words (kigo) may or may not be used at the poet’s discretion. A poet may submit one poem per theme. All poems must be the original, unpublished work of the author. In order to maintain the spirit and fairness of the kukai, a poem that has appeared anywhere with its author’s name cannot be allowed for submission.

Please use the Kukai submission form below to enter your poem, and then press Submit to send your entry. No other submissions will be recognized or honored. Once a poem is submitted it cannot be revised. All poems must be signed (that is, no “anonymous” poems will be accepted, and the Submit button will not be available until both Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in). Poets will not receive acknowledgment of their submissions. Poems will be accepted from the announcement of the theme through midnight of the 15th of that month. All poets are eligible to participate. Administrators of the kukai are ineligible to submit poems. Your submission form to us should look something like this:

line one
followed by line two
and then line three

or

this poem is all in one line

or

            jjjjjjjjjjj
kkkkkkkkkk
                    lll
   mmmmm

[all lines right-justified]

If your poem has special formatting requirements you should note them as in the third example above.

Good luck, and have fun!