early darkness

early darkness-
on the wings of the egret
a hint of sunlight
--Arvinder Kaur,Chandigarh,India


The year progresses as the flight of the egrets suggests, however our memories will be carried along as traces of our lives spent, like that nuance touching lightly, highlighting, the wings of the bird flying home to roost. An inevitable change of season is taking place, and the wisdom, inherent in the nature of the egret, motivates them to right action maintaining a harmonious balance.

There is a nice muted image painted here, reminding us of those grey areas of life, where there is emergence,without a complete cut-off point. Its about gradation, dynamism and awareness, all bundled into this haiku scenario.

A nice alliterative 'e' processes our visual reading adding another dimension in reception of the printed form of the haiku. When voiced, the sounds roll of our tongue with delight; all sixteen syllables of this moment so well contained.

Well Done Arvinder

--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The Kigo for Kukai #47 was 'early darkness'

film

action film--
my baby's kick
in the sonogram
--Arvinder Kaur,Chandigarh,India

What about this haiku makes it so special, that it emerges the kukai winner? Everyone goes soft when a baby enters the scene? I doubt it. It has to be much more than that. its the set up, I think. It has to be.

Line1 takes us to a place of expectations; in this place, there is darkness, yet everyone is concentrating on a source of light, there is the prescribed consensus of quiet, yet everyone's knows, this rule will be broken, there's food, specifically popcorn and sodas. So here's the pitch, Arvinder takes us there via the Line one's phrase, but nothing of the sort happens, by the time we understand, that we have been conned, the juxtaposition hones in and we are caught in the life drama of a new life happening.

Aha! now it is that we ourselves want to peer into that machine and share in the wonder of a scene so real, yet unreal to us as the haiku audience. Its reality becomes fixed only when we accept Arvinder's fragment surprise, and allow our selves to resonate in the sensation of the cinemascope, that is presented to us in this capsuled moment. The click of a camera will freeze the moment, the aesthetic of haiku take us there again and again, without losing the dynamics of this precious scene.
Arvinder's haiku appears like a sedoka, with the second and third lines being of the same length, and the go sichi go (5-7-5) meter is not adhered to. For those of us who like counting syllables, the haiku stays within the 17 syllable, using a count of 12.

Well Done Arvinder


--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The theme for Kukai #46 was film

afrocentric

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

Migration introduces in a powerful way, this haiku of variety and sameness; though the mood reminds me of Michael Dylan Welch's famous 'tulip festival' haiku, still, it presents a freshness of idea and quality. Its transcending quality skews into a methaphorical realm; yet it retains the simplicity and exactness of its Asian genre.

There is the expansiveness that is of the continent of Africa, with its varieties of tribes, clans, cultural practises; yet the "skin" of the connotative Africa becomes a hope of humanity and a universality of borders.

Like a skilful haiku magician, she dips into the hat, and pull the surprise out of nature "migrating birds"


Well done Angie
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The theme for the Kukai #45 was afrocentric

raincoat

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

The fragment appears first, with the intensity of commanding our attention; for us, she needs to throw some light on this matter, because we really don't know where she is going with this; a mystery resonated.

Line One sketches a drab scenery, universal in quality maybe, yes; we have all been privy to such nights; however what makes the haiku special to Rita is her resonating with raincoats of the militia; Rita hails from Israel a country now in turmoil, (a prayer and wishes for peace in her part of this planet is fitting here).

She juxtaposes a make shift fence, where wet coats hang, with an unwritten scene from life, where nothing seems permanent, is so much more understood; there is the dreary overhang of the ravages of social unrest and warring.
The actuality of this haiku can be raised to the dimension of a contempative chant, a wail from the belly of a haijin, wishing for the peace of stars and sun jeweled raindrops.

Well done Rita
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The kigo for the Kukai #44 was raincoat

wetness

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


The focus of our eyes dips, and in rising, there is more to capture in the moment. The 'fallen ' of Line One intimates a sort of completion of the action, but our focus continues to view even more, the 'gleam' ; both completion aspects are well
juxtaposed to paint an ideally lovely picture, while the use of a present tense verb in Line Two livens the scenario, moving it out of the realm of a still life painting and placing it into the sphere of haiku.

Rita's awareness shared, is enjoyed by the writer and reader; an AHA moment achieved. Is it morning dew or rain? we agree on the latter.


Well done Rita
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The kigo for the Kukai #43 was wetness

flower

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


Tango, a dance for two; full of passion, energy and expression; yet still, elegant and dramatic.

The fragment and phrase of this haiku is as multifacted in its duality as the dance itself. There, a happy juxtaposition of passion and elegance. Very specific, her gardenia is a white flower, a truce in the sometimes associated quarrel of the tango dance language. Here again the duality, the juxtaposition of the writer's thought in composng her haiku, resonates.

How easily we find ourselves in step with the rhythm of this poem, striding the haiku dance floor; but our flower is well placed, securely pinned and stays.

There is enough space, for us as readers of the haiku to fill in our own aspects of this tale, hopefully, the purity of the gardenia, blossoms into a love story.


Well done S.E.
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The Theme for the Kukai #42 was flower

stone

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


Line Two opens with a nice pivot the word 'back'; (which lets us read Lines 1 and 2 together as well as Lines 2 and 3 together); and, at once adds dimension to this haiku. No longer is the object physical; the 'closed door', now raises the readers awareness to symbols of closure, and spaces for entrance and exits into Marie's life's journey.

Reading Marie's haiku, i sensed a quality of Leiws Carroll (1832-1898).
"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."
--Leiws Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Having arrived at her today, she glimpses, taking us with her to her yesterday; brilliantly spanning time in her haiku moment. Her haiku seriously reiterates the question asked of countless contemporary haijins, can we really capture a moment, as stated by our haiku definitions.

Well done Marie-Alice
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator


The Kigo for the Kukai #41 was stone

shroud

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


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


Cara's 'last' goodbye is jolting, the reader is startled into attentiveness; the finality of Line One is sharp and cutting; 'last' is a well used, better than say 'final'; and carrying much the same weight. This final adieu; is received in a scene of confusion, unexplained, just like the mist of Line Two encrouching upon the strong, supposedly evergreens, one looks to with an eternity kind of gaze; but even these are seasonly cut down, but such thoughts are not in fore front of the gazer. What compels, is its strength and length of days. Line Two, extends the preface of the opening Line, to tell a deeply emotive tale of finality, loss and confusion.

Yet again in Cezar's haiku, the phrase of Line One sets the pace; feelings of dessertion and loneliness are evoked, in the reader, and the theme continues in resonance, with activity only of spiders. There is at another level a story of cause and consequence; in abandoning our spiritual self, we place ourselves in darkness

Where Cara used juxtaposition, Cezar opted to resonance to bridge the ideas of fragment
and phrase into two profound,intense winning haiku.

Our kukai have found both these haiku worthy to share first place spotlight

Well done Cara, Well done Cezar
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator



The kigo for this kukai was shroud