Shiki kukai August, 2015

This was my entry in the shiki kukai kigo section last month and managed to get a fifth place.
The prompt was : starlit night.

starlit night...

no longer looking

for words

fragrant breeze

fragrant breeze--

my daughter unfolds

her bridal dress

Shiki Kukai, June 2014

Shiki kukai, April, 2014

abandoned barn--
one hundred years of solitude
and me

(April, 2014, free format
3rd place)

January 2014 shiki kukai

 One more second place in my saga of endless second places! Sigh, sigh!

In the kigo section this one was the runner-up with 21 points behind Roberta beary at 23 points.

fingernail moon-

we share what's left of

the apple pie

In the Free format section, this ku received 14 points and was placed probably 7th.

the way

you play with my hair...

spring wind

November shiki kukai

 Another second place in The November Shiki kukai free format section. The winning entry in that section was this awesome ku by Vinay Ravindranath of our very own In haiku group:

ink puddle--

the words that

never were

And my runner-up ku :

this puddle

what my paper boat knows

of the sea 

Paresh Tiwari was in third place with this entry:

alley puddle--

 a paper boat  glides

over the stars

Incidentally, poets from India made a clean sweep of the top places in this free format section.

In the kigo section, I was in the fifth place with this ku :

morning chill-

the chimney smoke curls back

into itself

The jinx continues (2)

orange peel-

the wrinkles and folds

I never noticed

 Shiki Kukai, free format section

September 2013

2nd place ( 18 points)

The jinx continues (1)

Milky way...

a billion reasons

to love him

Shiki kukai , Kigo section

September 2013,

2nd place (19 points)

Shiki Kukai June 2013

somewhere

within this seashell--

a stillborn moon

Shiki kukai June 2013,  free format section.

It received 14 points, placed maybe 7th or 8th. Somebody actually gave it a full 3 points! Which is
reward enough, as I had loved writing this one.

Shiki Kukai December 2012

As you might have guessed, I have written nothing much in the past few months and hence have to fall back upon my Shiki kukai entries in order to post in the blog.

 The one I have dug up today is from December, 2012.
The prompt was 'departing'.

time to go...

the dragonfly clings

to a dewdrop

It got only 7 points and the  reason I remember this is because somebody liked it enough to leave behind a lovely comment!

That means a lot!

Shiki kukai January 2013

calm water-

 a duck glides

over the morning star 



Going back a little to the beginning of this year, this one in January Shiki kukai , Kigo section received 18 points and was placed third. The prompt was: first calm.

Shiki kukai May 2013

all day rain-
pond carps nibble
at the ripples

It managed to garner 11 points and was at the sixth or seventh place. As usual!

November 2012 Shiki kukai

Again a fourth place in both the kigo and free format sections of the Shiki kukai for the month of November with these two poems.


Kigo theme: mist

deep mist-

temple bells stirring

the nothingness

Free format theme: night sounds

leaf fall

she sighs

in her sleep

John Espen Vassbotn and Tom Painting were the winners of this month and their winning poems as well as all the other poems can be read here.

June 2012 Shiki kukai

I've talked here before about how I've been participating in and struggling with the monthly shiki kukai contests without ever topping it once! The last one in July was another sorry tale that I'd rather not talk about at all, but in June I came pretty close to it, I was placed second in both the formats with a mere 2 or 3 points separating me from the winner.And I was mighty pleased with it, in fact so pleased that I don't know how i managed to stay so long without bragging about it here. Shows what age does to you. So here are my two second -placed entries.

In the kigo section, the kigo was "ice cream", so no wonder I could write something that was well-received.

ice cream
on the patio-
strawberry moon

In the free format section, the prompt was, "day moon".

undecided
whether to leave or linger-
day moon

Hope you will like them too.

Shiki kukai November and May 2011

I found I had participated in November, 2011, "Eucalyptus" kukai after all. This one was placed 10th in the contest.

sound of an axe--

the rising scent of

Eucalyptus

And the next one is from May, 2011. The kigo was "coming of summer". I was placed sixth with this entry.

coming of summer--

the oriole leaves its song

in the wind

Shiki kukai June , July 2011

Before I begin,I'd like to tell my readers that I was featured in two other blogs this month. Margaret Dornaus and Cara Holman, both of them wonderful and well-known poets, were celebrating National poetry month on their blogs and very sweetly offered to host me. So I did a guest post on Margaret Dornaus' Haiku doodle on April 16th and was featured in April poet showcase on Cara Holman's Prose posies on April 22.You can read them here and here.

Going back to my Shiki kukai posts, these two are from July and June, 2011 respectively. The kigo for July was "moths" and I wrote this.( This one has been posted in this blog previously)

gypsy moth--

the wind tugs at

a brown leaf

For June, the kigo was "outdoor markets" and this was my response.

flea market rain--

the leaking roof
of the umbrella shop

Was placed 8th and 9th for these two. Seems like I've made these places my own :-(

Shiki kukai September 2011

It looks like I had not participated in quite a few shiki kukai before February this year. This one is from September 2011. The Kigo theme was "any citrus fruit". I chose to write about lime.

sour lime...

i cannot do

without him

And in the free format section in response to the theme of "rain", I wrote this.

day-long rain...

quietly,quietly

your absence

I was placed seventh in both the sections.

Shiki kukai February 2012

falling stars
letting go of memories...
almost

The free format theme in February was "night lights"(natural) and I was placed seventh with this entry.


In the Kigo section the theme was "lingering cold" and I was not even in the top 10, but still I kinda like my entry here.

lingering cold--
a handful of stars
in the soup tureen

Shiki kukai March 2012

image:Ichiro Tsurata

Kigo theme: Spring

spring breeze...
i catch his gaze
and hold it

I've been participating in the monthly Shiki kukai contests for such a long time now, and a few other kukai on some other sites as well, but never kept any proper records of them. I remember a few and some would be there languishing in my old notebooks, but mostly I would be at a loss if asked which poem I had entered for a particular kukai.Chancing upon a poem on one such site the other day, it looked vaguely familiar until I scrolled down and found it was actually written by me.

So anyway, I've decided to get organised and keep track of the poems entered or at least the ones which were placed well. Starting with the most recent one, the March 2012 Shiki kukai, the above was my entry for the kigo section and the one below for the free format section. Both were placed eighth and considering there were about 130+ entries in both the sections this time, I am quite pleased with my effort

Free format theme:dram/reverie


daydreams--
sinking in the sun-scented grass
me and a damselfly

And this was another one that I had entered for a Sketchbook kukai contest.

spring's end--
the gurgle of the brook
now a murmur

(Sketchbook 6-2, March-April 2011, Spring's end kukai, 1st place)

I'll search the kukai archives and find and record my other entries also by and by.

gypsy moth

gypsy moth -
the wind tugs at
a brown leaf

I have never been able to do well in the kukai contests that I participate in. Have always ended near the bottom at the Carribean kigo kukai that I have been taking part in for the last 7-8 months and have fared only marginally better in the Sketchbook kukai contest in which
I actually got the first place once some time back, even got the 2nd and 3rd place in two subsequent editions.


But it is the Shiki kukai that I find most fascinating and which has always eluded me . My best showing has been a third place way back in 2007 or 2008, when I had just started writing haiku.After a hiatus of almost 2 years, during which I didn't write almost anything, I have again become a pretty much 'regular' there since last year.Though lately, I have been a little consistent in that I have mostly managed to finish within top 10, which is not bad really, considering that for this particular contest, there are on an average 100+ entries from all over the world by the very best haiku poets whose work I've come to admire and the winners are decided on the basis of peer votes. So, even if I manage to get a 6th, 7th or 8th place that means my work has been appreciated and I give myself a quiet pat on the back.


The one featured here is from June, 2011 shiki kukai, the kigo(season word) was 'moth'.