year of the ox 2021

 still chewing

bitter mouthfuls ...

year of the ox

--Lucia Cardillo - Italy

Covid 19, indeed a bitter pill served up to humankind, leaves a nasty taste. So many loved ones have passed on, leaving behind the memory of loss, longing, and the effects of a surprise attack. Yet , life must go on; not as we know it, but in a new normal way.

Each and everyone on this planet has been touched, has been served up a sampling of this bitter medicine. Lucia is therefore, spokesperson for all of us reeling under the sway of this pandemic. And, she does it succinctly in three lines and eleven syllables. the pathos is deeply rooted in the frieze of where we are at, and resonates with the characteristic of the ox, which even if he displays his fierce tantrums at times, also naturally ruminates and mulls over after his feast.

Mono no aware is skillfully wrought in this haiku for it states our position in this pandemic as we bravely face 2021  chewing on the happenings  of last year.

Well Done Lucia

Review by gillena cox; Founder/coordinator-Caribbean Kigo Kukai

View the full results HERE

The prompt for this New Year Kukai  HERE

good luck foods for the new year

In the compendium of new beginnings, which the New Year offers, there is the detail of food. Why not strengthen ourselves, with a mind to improving situations, along with our resolutions to improve our lives? ...more
This kukai; kukai number nine, emerged a winner who paid attention not only to the people in her family but also to her pet

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

Begining anew with attention to one's pet; there is a pertinent humanitarian quality here; one of caring, not just on the level of human to human , but of wider acceptance and inclusion, of a pet in the family
Feeding the family maybe an everyday act , but feeding the pet is an extension of caring in any family.

A truly AHA moment of haiku recorded

I was reading recently from WHR, a section of cat pet haiku the section is titled ' My Left-handed Black Catby Atene Kawasaki/ Haiku about by friend after the death of his wife' and the poem that was particularly striking for me was the one in which he questions himself about the situation of others of his cats family; this one the lucky one having strayed into his life;

kogarashi no naka ka koneko no chichi-haha wa

parents
of this kitten...are they exposed
to bitter winter wind?
--Atene Kawasaki as per WHR; Volume 8 Issue 1 - January 2010; copyright

For me this poem resonated well the isssue of caring also subthemed in this CKK's Number nine's winning Haiku
Best Wishes for the New Year; Thanks to all for maikng Caribbean Kigo Number Nine Kukai a success;much love

--gillena cox
coordinator; Caribbean Kigo Kukai




The theme for the kukai was food traditionally considered to bring good luck for the new year