Celebrating Fifty Kukai

The number fifty, represents, the Universe being expressed by the individual lives, according to R. Allendy: "it is a favorable number marking a grace, a kindness, a regeneration".
CKK pauses, at this juncture of our kukai (haiku contests), to recall with pride some of our first place winners, of 50 kukai, spanning 2009 - 2014.
Prompts are gives sometimes as kigo(season words) and sometimes as themes. Where kigo are given the word or phrase must be used and players are asked to use the prompt exactly as stated. When themes are given a more relaxed approach in writing could be used.

Poems remain the copyright of individual writers

So then, here they are: the first place winners of the first 50 kukai in The Caribbean Kigo Kukai.


2009 CKK#1[22 haiku poets - prompt LENT]

season of lent-
my shadow
thinner and thinner
-- Jacek Margolak, Poland


2009 CKK#2[22 haiku poets - prompt EASTER]

Easter Day-
on my grandpa's cross
a sleeping butterfly
--Constantin Stroe


2009 CKK#3[18 haiku poets - prompt MOTHER'S DAY]

Mother's Day--
her mirror refracts
morning light
--Ralf Bröker, Germany


2009 CKK#4[16 haiku poets - prompt CORPUS CHRISTI]

Corpus Christi
a pregnant woman
climbs the church steps
--Bill Kenney, USA


2009 CKK#5[19 haiku poets - prompt SUMMER VACATION]

summer vacation -
camp-fire smoke
rising to the moon
--John McDonald, USA


2009 CKK#6[19 haiku poets - prompt FIREWORKS]

beach fireworks
the last embers fall
into their reflections
--Catherine J.S. Lee, USA


2009 CKK#7[19 haiku poets -prompt FLOOD]

flood's end
through the rusty gate
a sunbeam
--Jacek Margolak; POLAND


2009 CKK#8[23 haiku poets - prompt LIGHTS]

solitude . . .
turning out the lights
I let in the moon
--Bill Kenney, USA


2010 CKK#9[12 haiku poets - prompt NEW YEAR]

new year's day
the smell of pickled herring
on the cat's breath
--Cindy Tebo


2010 CKK#10[15 haiku poets - prompt CARNIVAL]

carnival in Venice -
my shadow puts on
a mask
--Jacek Margolak; POLAND


2010 CKK#11[17 haiku poets - prompt ASHES]

ashes
on my forehead
the priest's cold thumb
-- John McDonald; Scotland


2010 CKK#12[17 haiku poets - prompt KITE FLYING]

windy beach
a small boy struggles
with the dragon kite
--Rafal Zabratynski, Poland


2010 CKK#13[17 haiku poets - prompt CARNATION]

strains of Mendelssohn
the groom fiddles
with his carnation
--Cara Holman, USA


2010 CKK#14[21 haiku poets - prompt FATHERS]

My father's face
forty years later
back in my mirror
--Franklin Magalhaes, Brazil


2010 CKK#15[23 haiku poets - prompt UMBRELLA]

summer rain
my umbrella
unopened
--Bill Kenney; USA


2010 CKK#16[17 haiku poets - prompt THUNDER]

sudden thunder
we forget
our quarrel
--Marleen Hulst, The Netherlands

distant thunder
my children's room full
of whispers
--Jacek Margolak, Poland


2010 CKK#17[19 haiku poets - prompt BLUE BIRD]

twilight shadows--
the flash
of a bluebird's wing
--Cara Holman; USA


2010 CKK#18[18 haiku poets - prompt FESTIVAL LIGHTS]

festival lights
smeared
on the wet sidewalk
--John McDonald; Scotland


2011 CKK#19[24 haiku poets - prompt TUXEDO]

wedding anniversary -
mom asks me to put on
my father's tuxedo
--Cezar F.Ciobîca


2011 CKK#20[26 haiku poets - prompt CALENDAR]

east wind
the paper-thin days
of the calendar
--Bouwe Brouwer; The Netherlands


2011 CKK#21[21 haiku poets - prompt VALENTINE]

Valentine's Day...
only cup of tea
warms my hands
--Jacek Margolak; Poland

late Valentine's day –
the beggar still hums
an old love song
--Cezar-Florian Ciobîca


2011 CKK#22[22 haiku poets - prompt BUD]

first buds
the dream fading
as I tell it
--Bill Kenney, USA


2011 CKK#23[24 haiku poets - prompt STRING]
broken string
my paper kite disappears
in the sun
--Jacek Margolak; POLAND


2010 CKK#24[18 haiku poets - prompt RIBBONS]

old diary -
between two blank pages
a pink ribbon
-- Cezar-Florin Ciobîca


2010 CKK#25[19 haiku poets - prompt WREATH]

autumn wreath
the dried sunflower
feeds a blackbird
--Marleen Hulst; The Netherlands


2011 CKK#26[24 haiku poets - prompt RICE PLANTING]

planting rice
the child on her back
soothed by song
Marleen Hulst; The Netherlands


2011 CKK#27[22haiku poets - prompt SAND]

footprints in the sand
her toes digging deeper
where he kissed her
--John McDonald


2011 CKK#28[28haiku poets - prompt MUD]

The tempest…
white fallen plum petals
in the mud
--Magdalena Dale, Romania


2011 CKK#29[25haiku poets - prompt BAMBOO]
morning cleaning -
the bamboo shadows
sweep the stairs
--Jacek Margolak; POLAND


2012 CKK#30[22 haiku poets -prompt CHRISTMAS TREE]

Christmas tree -
every year a little higher
her paper angel
--Bouwe Brouwer, The Netherlands

our last goodbye
pine trees shrouded
by the mist
--Cara Holman, USA


2012 CKK#31[22 haiku poets -prompt FOOTSTEPS]

the sound
of my own footsteps . . .
winter dawn
--Bill Kenney, USA


2012 CKK#32[17 haiku poets - prompt SALTED FISH]

bacalao
memories of a place
I've never been
--Bill Kenney, USA


2012 CKK#33[25 haiku poets - prompt BLOSSOMING]

blossoming cherry trees
I ask the waiter
for a window table
--Marleen Hulst,The Netherland


2012 CKK#34[25 haiku poets - prompt GRANDMOTHER]

grandmother -
she recognizes us
by touch
Andrzej Dembonczyk, Poland


2012 CKK#35[22 haiku poets - prompt WEDDING BOUQUET]

tiger lilies . . .
the old widow remembers
her first dance
--Kathy Uyen Nguyen, USA


2012 CKK#36[22 haiku poets - prompt HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION]

graduation day
I fold my program
into a fan
--Cara Holman


2012 CKK#37[21 haiku poets - prompt THE OLYMPIC GAMES]

high diver
at the platform's edge
stillness
--Bill Kenney, USA


2012 CKK#38[21 haiku poets - prompt STORMY WEATHER]

stormy weather
a homeless man clutches
his bottle of wine
--Bouwe Brouwer; The Netherlands


2013 CKK #39 [17 haiku poets - prompt SHROUD]

abandoned chapel -
spiders weaving around Jesus
another shroud
--Cezar F. Ciobîca,Botoani, Romania


2013 CKK#40[19 haiku poets - prompt POTTER'S HANDS]

shaping dreams..
the potter's hand on his
wheel of fortune
--Vinay Leo R; Bangalore, India


2013 CKK#41[22 haiku poets - prompt STONE]

the closed door
back to my childhood...
key under a stone.
-- Marie-Alice Maire; France


2013 CKK#42[21 haiku poets - prompt FLOWER]

in her hair
a white gardenia--
the thrill of tango
S.E. Herrin: Des Moines, Iowa


2013 CKK#43[25 haiku poets - prompt WETNESS]

fallen petals...
drops of wetness gleam
on the stalk
Rita Odeh Nazareth, Israel


2013 CKK#44[26 haiku poets - prompt RAINCOAT]

moonless sky-
military raincoats hung
on a bamboo fence
--Rita Odeh, Isrel

2013 CKK#45[22 haiku poets - prompt AFROCENTRIC]

migrating birds --
all the colors of
my skin
--Angie Werren, Amelia, Ohio USA


2013 CKK#46[24 haiku poets - prompt FILM]
action film--
my baby's kick
in the sonogram
--Arvinder Kaur,Chandigarh,India


2013 CKK#47[23 haiku poets - prompt EARLY DARKNESS]
early darkness-
on the wings of the egret
a hint of sunlight
--Arvinder Kaur,Chandigarh,India


2014 CKK#48[30 haiku poets - prompt MUSIC COMPETITION]

child guitarist -
a mother's hand
behind the curtains
--Ajaya Mahala, India

incomplete orchestra -
the missing leaves
of the poplar
--Eduard Tara, Romania

neighbour's triplets-
each one an octave higher
than the other
--Yesha Shah, India.


2014 CKK#49[24 haiku poets - prompt COOL DOWN]

heated argument...
she nurses her ego
in the shower
--Shloka Shankar Bangalore, India


2014 CKK#50[23 haiku poets - prompt KITE]

kite shop -
entering with every customer
the summer breeze
--Bouwe Brouwer, The Netherlands