kite

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

What could be more delightful than, a kite in the wind? Held high out our reach, our only connection a fragile string, which the mighty wind in one moody swing could dramatize who's in control and whose not. The bigness and smallness of this scene wrapped in a tag of experience.

Bouwe does not wait for the outdoor experience, but on the instinct of the haiku magician; he conjours this scene of kite haven, bringing in the star of the show 'summer breeze'. A preview, a trialer to the life of this yet un-bought side star, the kite.

I like the play of time in this haiku, the projection of the future with the image of the present wind. There were no comments with the votes for this haiku, which emerged first this time around, yet clearly chosen as the 'highest flyer'.


Well done! Bouwe
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator




The Kigo was kite

cool down

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

The intangible hot, and the tangible cooling of the water, here, goes well together. Choice of the word 'ego' in line 2 adding resonance to the haiku phrase. The theme of the kukai is stark and clearly presented, in a simple showing of cause and effect. A 15 syllable account, classic three lines, and a tale well told.
Yet, read at another level, the heat of a hot day can be juxtaposed with the intensity of discord to present a haiku well wrought

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


The theme was 'cool down'

music competition

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

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.


The above three haiku proved to be the crop of CKK #48, chosen above others as the pick for number one placed winner.
How are they similar as winners? what makes them different from the rest? These are some of the questions i entertained a i approached my commentary.
Well for starters, all three crafted juxtaposition into their haiku, there is mystery, there is surprise. There are stories well told in their minimilistic mode, yet each inviting, and allowing the reader to peer deeper into, getting involved with the writer.

We can see that 'child guitarist' we can sense the anxiety, maybe the child's palms are sweaty; and look behind the curtain, where the audience cannot see. We are privy, because of the writer's skill, to see to know, the wonderful comforting hands of the mother are there.

Then lets look too at the mystery of the missing leaves; everyone loves a mystery, when presented with one, immediately we put on our detective hats and head out to collect clues, just like in the case of Eduard's haiku. Is it autumn, the natural time of falling leaves? were those leaves blown off by strong stormy gales? and the haiku's background music plays on, creating just theright atmosphere of drama.

The crescendo of Yesha's haiku, can be aesthetically enjoyd bringing smile to our lips as the picture of these children surely in their natural instinctive mode of infancy, or child's play, or concert performance is quite, appealing; yet enough is given, yt enough space left to wonder

Have we figured out the intrigue of any of these three haiku. What is, and what isn't, plays a serious hand here adding depth to our appreciative reading of these 3 winning haiku.


Well done! Ajaya, Edward and Yesha
--gillena cox
Caribbean Kigo Kukai - founder/coordinator




The Theme was 'music competition'

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