fresh snow
fluffy under my feet
Nike footprints

Jennifer Griebel (2)

a bitter wind
flake-filled eyes
I forgot my scarf

white cold
her blue scarf
flutters

snowflakes in her hair
she smiles triumphantly
at the snowman family

Candace Golden (3)

This particular haiku strikes me the most I think because I pictured myself in this situation. As a little girl I remember being outside while it was snowing, making snow families and being so proud of finishing them. I can visualize other little girls doing the same thing I did, being so happy and excited that they had accomplished something great. —Liz Hattan

white horizon
. . . another snowflake
makes a home in my hair

Brindin Hill (8) second place

piles of snow
the man shovels
children at play

woke up to white
worried
what the roads hold

This haiku took me back when I was in like 3rd or 4th grade and I was the first one to wake up and I looked out the window to see white snow everywhere, not worried but concerned if the roads where bad so we wouldn’t have school, turning on the TV to see if school had been cancelled. The exciting feeling and anticipation and hope that there would be no school. —Nathan Carden

cold glass
framing the dancing flakes
hot chocolate in hand

Brindin Hill (3)

This haiku makes me imagine a woman standing out her window while she drinks her hot chocolate. She is watching the snow “dance” to the ground. The window is so cold that she can feel the coolness when she stood next to it. Since it is snowing and cold outside, she has decided to stay in for the day, look out at the world through her “frame.” —Miranda Baker

This poem stood out to me especially because I can see someone sitting in the kitchen after being outside in the cold weather. I can picture that it's snowing outside and someone just got in from clearing the sidewalk with a shovel. They are bitter cold and make themselves a cup of hot chocolate. They have sat down and are holding the cup of hot chocolate to warm up their hands. They can look out the kitchen window at the white snow coming from the sky and landing on the ground. Each windowpane gives the sense of framing the picture of the outside weather as if it was an actual picture on the wall instead of the clear window. —Aaron Meyer

shoveling the sidewalk
a snowman in the process
hot chocolate

looking cross-eyed
tiny snowflakes
land on my nose

Miranda Baker (4)

This haiku takes me back to nighttime, looking up at the snow as it falls on my face, trying to catch it in my mouth. It’s a calm night; snow is just softly falling on my face. —Nathan Carden

snow's heavy blanket
she jolts from her bed
the plow sounds

Erin Osmus (6) third place

I think this haiku offers different image-focused aspects. In the first line of this haiku, the first thing that came to my mind was a huge, wide-open field of snow. But after I read the second line, my intuition switched to the girl's room and her bed…and the blanket being there, instead of the snow. Overall, I have two perceptions of this haiku. First, I envision “her” as a young girl waking up in the morning for school, and being woken up by the plow, indicating that she would have the day off from school. With the other idea that came to mind was an older, working woman, who “jolted” from her bed, and realized that she had overslept work that morning. But amidst the snow, she was going to stay home because of her heavy blanket, and stay away from the cold. —Julie Forehand

When I read this haiku, I can feel it. I younger, and I am in my bed at home and the sun is coming through the windows. I hear a plow and jump up, hoping it has snowed so school is cancelled! I can see the bright snow outside and feel the excitement of a possibility of more sleep. I think I like it so much because I can relate so well to it. —Michele LaBrose

the smell of cold air
Jack Frost's wrath is here again
white is blinding eyes

Keith Johansen (1)

bundled up
in the snow I dream
of a warm bed

Jared Stahl (6) third place

This haiku was my favorite from the entire Kukai. I often find myself wishing I was back in bed on cold days. I really hate winter and being cold, so I definitely bundle up in the snow. I also hate getting out of my warm bed in the morning. The contrast between the snow and a warm bed are very nice. What I like most about this haiku is the fact that you can read the 1st and 2nd line together or the 2nd and 3rd line together. It all depends how you want to read it. I like having that option. Even though this is a snow haiku, I get an overall warm feeling from it. —Jennifer Griebel

tasteless powder
numbed toes inside my boots
angels on the ground

two curious eyes
an overheating child
snow day

Michele LaBrose (4)

without a word
the child
stares with delight

or

without a word
the child stares with delight
                      snow

Lauren Taylor (4)

This is my favorite snow Haiku of all because it really brings back a memory. When I read this piece it just felt like I wrote it, or someone wrote it especially for me. This Haiku reminds me of the first time I saw the snow. I came from a Southeastern city in China. Weather there is similar to what it would be in Florida, so naturally I never ever got to see snow. I came to the United States with my mom during the month of February. After the plane arrived in Newark Airport, I was really tired from the 12 hour plane ride. (I don't really think how I could have been tired because I slept through most of the 12 hours…?) We departed the plane, met with my father and several of his friends, and when to claim our luggage. When we finally got done with the process we head out of the airport to the parking lot. As we stepped out of the airport I was just frozen on my feet. The ground was covered with at least 3 inches of snow! It was so amazing that I didn't know what to say or do or think! I think just stood there for five minutes staring at the ground and the white “powered” stuff that melts in your hand. I could never forget that special moment, and thanks to this Haiku I feel like I have relived that moment again. —Xiu Ying Zheng

I chose this one as my favorite because it reminds me of Christmas morning just staring out the window admiring the blanket of fresh snow on the ground as though I had never seen such a site before in all of my life. I get that feeling still today, of calmness and peacefulness as I look out my front windows with the glow of our Christmas tree in the windows. There is something about such a site that makes everything around you stop in its place and remain still for a moment while you admire all that Mother Nature has to offer. —Chrissy Hulse

learning put on hold
voices echo through the sky
the world is white

thick blanket
four inches
on my car

Amy Soderberg (4)

sun glare off the fresh snow
she looks at me
as I pass her

Paul Scherschel

I like the haiku about the girl looking at the author off the glare in the snow. I think it is what happens--the snow blinds you, you look up, and you sometimes see something or someone unexpected. It's a great poem. —Ryan Jones

children laughing,
playing, feeling the winter
I sit and watch

large fluttering flake
floating slowly toward the ground
captured by her tongue

Courtney Ruffner (4)

frost on the window
the children playing outside
winter fire

snowy road ahead
my car tries to spin left
towards the way back home

This is another piece that I can easily relate to. Another reason I like this haiku is the sense that the car's action in a way represents its driver's wish in heart. It's a snowy day, my car doesn't like the weather; I don't enjoy the weather neither. My car “complains” by spinning in the snow when I take a quick turn and in my mind I'm thinking: maybe I really should be in my warm bed right now at home instead of trying to fight this snow. —Xui Ying Zheng

scratching plastic
across icy glass
I should have worn gloves

Bill Flowers (4)

This is recurring theme in my life almost every day during the winter as I go out to find frost on my car. When reading this, I initially thought of the plastic being a credit card until I read further on and realized this was about an ice scraper. Just reading this makes me feel as though I'm right there at this very moment, working diligently to get the ice off of my windshield. —Courtney Ruffner

This is something I do so many times. Not wanting to be out in the cold, most of the time I try to rely on the defroster to heat away all of the frosts in my front window. In most cases the defroster can't finish the job before I really have to leave for school so I'm not late for the first class. So, unwillingly, I would get out of my warm and cozy car to scrap the remainder of the ice off my front window. So many times I forget to wear a glove. When my finger feels like they are so numb that it could fall off any minute and I would feel a thing, I think to myself to wear my glove next time. But guess what? Of course I forgot to wear my gloves again the following time. —Xui Ying Zheng

sun through the window
the shovel against
the pavement

Matt Whitsett (3)

This reminds me of waking up on a winter morning after a night of snowfall. I am woken up to the sound of my dad shoveling the driveway. My room is very bright, because the sun is shining through my window. Everything is white outside, which intensifies the light. I feel very warm lying in bed, and I feel glad that I am not the one outside shoveling the driveway. —Jared Stahl

cold chair-lift
wind in my face
freshly waxed ski’s

Liz Hattan (5)

The chair-lift reminded me of just last weekend. I went skiing for the first time ever. I can feel the wind in my face as we continually ascend into the hills. As I look down I see not only my skis, but also the skis of my friends who sit on either side of me. Then I think about the trip back down the hill once we arrive at the top. Skiing is so much fun! —Courtney Ruffner

I liked this haiku especially because I seem to get a sense of adventure from the second line. I can see someone riding the lift while they are freezing with the wind hitting them in the face, however he seems to be facing the wind at the same time. I have never skied and this haiku makes me want to go! —Candace Golden

pitching out a snow ball
no return . . .
only hit my memory

Xiu Ying Zheng (1)

snowflakes dance
in the streetlight
our frozen breath lingers

Candace Golden (14) first place

This haiku truly allows the mind's imagination to run wild. The snowflakes are floating down from the sky in a graceful back and forth pattern. As the snowflakes get closer, the streetlight begins to illuminate them as they continue to float through the approaching sky. I have been caught up in the moment staring at these snowflakes. I come out of that moment when I see the breath of another person standing next to me. My future could be in this moment. This person could be the girl that I will be with for the rest of my life. —Paul Scherschel

I thought this one was the best one in the bunch. I liked this one because many times when it is snowing at night, I will look in the streetlight because it seems to illuminate the snowflakes. I pictured two people walking home while it's snowing. The air is very crisp and has a very familiar smell to it. The two people are walking fast because it's cold and they want to get inside, but as they are walking they catch themselves looking at this streetlight and seeing the snowflakes illuminated in it at they fall. And they're using this to keep their minds of the fact that they are so cold. In my opinion, the two thoughts may have been used better if they were switched. Because opening up with “Our frozen breath lingers” really sets the stage and creates a picture of a few people that are really cold. Then they see a streetlight and are almost enchanted by the snowflakes dancing in it. I just thought that way might work better. —Bill Flowers

When I first read this poem, I envisioned a young woman and a young man standing in the middle of a deserted city street. With the dim glow of the street lamp descending upon them, the two lovers stand in an uncomfortable silence. Tears in the woman's eyes, the young man wants to comfort her, but hesitates because of a lingering argument. At a loss for words, the couple watches the snowflakes fall and also watches the rising of crystallized breath in order to give themselves something to do. I chose this haiku to write about because I believe that this haiku is especially effective in its use of a striking moment of beauty as well as pain. This intimate combination of two conflicting emotions is extremely powerful to me and to all others who have experienced such a moment. —Brindin Hill

These were the five that I found most appealing. Of all of them, I think the first one strikes my fancy the most. I like how the word “dance” captures the exact look that snowflakes sometimes make when flying into the shaft of light created by a streetlight. I also like the fact that the breath is lingering in the air--I think of a couple, or maybe two friends, who stop and watch the snow fall, despite their busy lives. In that moment, they realize that there is more to life than other things, and that their breath lingers is symbolic of the fact that their mind is lingering on memories and new thoughts on their own lives. On a visual level, I see an old-fashioned street lamp with a bundled couple underneath it who are watching the snow fall. They are huddled and close, and they pause with their breath which freezes in the cold air into their pensive thoughts. —Ryan Jones

accumulation of 3 to 4”
trudged through it
on my way to class

quiet walk to class
where did the people go . . .
snow

scraping off the car
she suddenly slips
. . . black ice

lightning fast
the sled races down
laughter abounds

I really enjoyed reading this haiku. It reminds me of sledding when I was younger. The only problem is that my sled was not lightening fast. It moved a little too slow. I like the way this haiku presents the vivid picture of sledding. I can see the sled, piled with children. They are zooming down the hill, laughing all the way. —Stacey Orr

packing snow with her hands
adding the finishing touch
to the snowman

packed tightly in a ball
lots of ammunition
ready, aim, SNOWBALL FIGHT!