together
we find
winter’s warmth

Jamie Devitt

the fire goes out
we stay warm
in each other’s arms

Brian Rohde

melting of
the snow and
the wall around my heart

Alisha Goebel

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening

Rachel Cook

This pair works for me because they both find essentially the same theme, but in interestingly different ways. One is about a journey, while the second is more of scene. I prefer the first simply because it takes me somewhere. It is static in time, but it has a forward momentum that spins more powerfully in the mind. The second, although well constructed, lacks that indescribable quality that lights the fire inside you as you read it. The second has a dash too many words that lose me, the first has a concisely structured word choice. Word choice and structure are things that are most important to me as I read any kind of poetry, especially as I continue my study of haiku. Adam Stefo

I really like the pairing of these haiku, which are very similar and yet are based in very different backgrounds. The first haiku speaks of two lovers staying warm by embracing, the cause of the cold is the winter and they are connected to the world around them by stating that their warmth is in fact the winter’s warmth. This is a poem about love overcoming a negative and actually making it enjoyable. The Second haiku speaks of two lovers trying to stay warm as their former source of heat is lost. In this poem one could interpret the snuffed fire as being a negative event that has happened and the two filling the void with their love. They have suffered a blow and now have filled the remaining hole with each other. Both of these haiku are very similar, both involve love helping a situation become better by holding close (either figuratively or literally) but at the same time have many differences. The first haiku implies that the love blocks any damage from happening, it completes the two people and makes even bad situations good. The second is more about filling a loss. The two people are damaged by something bad that has happened and they find some consolation in each others arms, but unlike the first haiku, it doesn’t make them happy per say, but rather less sorrowful. Andrew

I really liked this pairing of haiku because one depicts late winter and someone who is ready to let down her defenses, and the second shows a still night in the middle of winter, with late night snow and two people that have let down the barriers around their hearts. They’re so connected that they don’t need to speak. Their silence speaks volumes. I also love the clever way the author threw in the Christmas hymn title, and then used it to create a great contrast. Allison Lingren

Again, this haiku "freshly fallen snow" had what I always comment on as being my favorite use of technique: contrast. This haiku was one of the first I read on the page, and it stuck in my mind the entire time. I kept coming back to it after I read each haiku. I related this haiku to a set of lyrics written by Damien Rice. They are rather depressing, but hold the same tension as I find within this haiku. The image of such picture perfect snowfall creates tension alone in the waiting for it to be destroyed. The song is sung without instrumental support creating a similar sense of peace and silence. Jamie

Below are the lyrics to Damien Rice’s “Silent Night.”

Silent Night
Broken night
All is fallen when you take your flight
I found some hate for you
Just for sure
You found some love for me
Thinking I’d go
Don’t keep me from crying to sleep
Sleep in Heavenly peace

Silent Night
Moonlight night
Nothing’s changed
Nothing is right
I should be stronger than weeping alone
You should be weaker than sending me home
I can’t stop fighting to sleep
Sleep in heavenly peace

together
we find
winter’s warmth

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening

top quarter champion =

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening
 

top half champion =

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening

bottom quarter champion =

bitter wind
I watch your footprints
               . . . disappear
 

bitter wind
I watch your footprints
               . . . disappear

new fallen snow
writing my name
I run out of ink

bitter wind
I watch your footprints
               . . . disappear

Faith Martin

following
someone else’s footsteps
through the snow

Allison Lingren

new fallen snow
writing my name
I run out of ink

Brian Rohde

wintry morning
I sign my name
by the snowman

Rick Bearce

Obviously, both of these have to do with footsteps in the snow, but I like that they each gave a different feeling. In the first one I like the comparison that “disappear” brought. Not only are the footsteps disappearing, but so is the person who left them. I actually got the picture of a girl sitting on a park bench in the middle of winter and her friend, boyfriend, either one, just left her sitting there in shock. It’s snowing outside, but she’s not cold, she just doesn’t move. In the second one, the footsteps were much more innocent. I saw a little boy following his dad’s huge footsteps. The little boy’s shoes are so small in his dad’s footprint. The little boy is following the dad’s actual footsteps, but I also get the sense that he wants to follow in his “proverbial” footsteps. Rachel Cook

Out of all the selected pairs in the contest Kukai, I selected this particular group to be my favorite. I believe the image and emotions in the first haiku provide a perfect stepping stone into the second haiku. Also, after reading them both, the images and emotions derived from the first are clearer and more defined. I enjoy how the concept of bitterness portrayed as both emotion and weather. At the same time, it is as if the same person is trying to stop the footsteps from disappearing in the second haiku. They flow very nicely together. I am very interested to see who the authors are and how they have written two pieces that fit so well together. The indention of the word disappear is my favorite technique of the first author. It leaves the reader with a feeling of hopelessness and despair, while jerking them back into focus as they read on to the second haiku. Erin Wyant

To me, this piece paints an extremely vivid and effective portrait of human loneliness and loss. The connections we make with other people may be lasting to us, but typically we – as humans – tend to rely on something physical to help revive and eternalize the memories and emotions we have for others. In this instance, I see the narrator as having no other memento of their lost friend or lover; they are therefore left to contemplate over the dissipating tracks in the snow left behind by that person. I like that the author sets the scene with the phrase “bitter wind”, implying that the narrator is choosing to brave the stinging cold (actually, the way the haiku is phrased, it almost seems as if the narrator is so entranced by the memories that he or she fails to even notice the temperature, let alone be bothered by it) in order to cherish the last remnants of the departed person. The ellipsis preceding the word “disappear” not only builds up a certain anticipation to the word, but also gives the feeling of the word or the haiku itself almost disappearing off the page. Brian Blankenship

I really like these haiku as a matched pair. The second actually seems like it should precede the first; someone is following another person through the snow using the footprints their predecessor made as a guide. In the second, the trail is quickly being lost because the falling snow and wind are making the guiding footprints disappear. I love how even though these haiku were most likely written by two different people, they fit together so well. Sarah Corso

I chose this as my favorite match for winter calm, because of it’s amazing visual and symbolicness when paired together. The image of a person desperately trying to find the fast fading footprints of someone who left them, only to have it become increasingly difficult as the wind shifts and time passes, and then losing them completely is heart wrenching. Instead of giving up and turning around, instead they choose a new set to follow. One that was deeper, more lasting, and more recent. It is like choosing a new path in life even though the environment may change our plans and present obstacles we use survival skills to track our next move. Traci Rapp

I thought these two haiku were paired really well. I happen to know that Rohde and I each wrote one of these, but they still make what I would consider the best pair in the winter calm matching contest. Not only do they both give me a nice calm feeling in winter, but they’re also both about peeing in the snow. I realize it may be kind of taboo to select one of my own haiku as part of my favorite matched pair, but these two go together so well I couldn’t resist. Rick Bearce

top half champion =

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening
 

champion =

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening

bottom half champion =

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill
 

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill

Adam Stefo

admiring
silent snow
from my bedroom window

Liz Ciaccio

a time to ponder
the evening’s events
the frozen walk

Brian Blankenship

the conversation
round the pond
a frozen lily

Brian Blankenship

I really like the sense of calm I get from reading this haiku match. The whole concept of being safe inside your home while you watch the simple, uncontrollable acts of Mother Nature is really neat. Both appeal to the sense of hearing, but the one on the left also gives me a sense of touch. I can feel the warmth and coziness of the mounds of blanket on top of me as I peer out of the window. It’s more specific than the second haiku, where you could be anywhere in the room, looking out the window. I also think the alliteration used in the first haiku, with multiple b and s sounds, definitely adds to the effect. Liz Ciaccio

This pair I had a hard time choosing between because they are so similar. They both possess the same feeling of being alone but being okay with that feeling. They both provoke the reader to see the beauty in the snow from the eyes of just a single person. I liked how in order to appreciate the snow for what it is didn’t require the person to be buried in the blankets with a boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife. Elizabeth Braden

Both of these haiku do an excellent job of conveying the peaceful silent snowfall. In each haiku, the author is placed in a bedroom watching it on the sill. The first haiku, however, gives the image of being buried deep within the covers and not wanting to leave them because the see the snow and know that it is cold outside the confines of the sheets. The second, however, gives the image of the author being fully dressed and perhaps sitting on top of the bed, or in a rocking chair, admiring the snow in spite of the cold that comes along with it. Faith J. Martin

I like that these two haiku really probably aren't aren't about the same thing at all, and yet, when put next to each other, they seem to be very related. If I combine them, I see two people walking around a frozen pond in winter discussing something that happened earlier that neither party felt comfortable about. It gives me a very awkward, cold feeling that somehow is comforting in a way. I guess the comfort comes from the fact that these two people are able to talk about what is weighing heavily on their minds. Brian R

I really liked this pair of haiku because they are frozen. I like the solidity and calmness of them. They really complete the feeling of winter. I like how they both encompass the entire feeling of winter and coldness being broken by others. Both haiku are well written. Alisha Goebel

Quiet winter walks are times for reflection. The same way you search for meaning in yourself and your actions, you search for a sign of life in the cold wasteland. Winter can be both a beautiful scene and a lonely, barren wasteland, depending on your perspective. Anything could change how you view it. No matter how the quiet is understood by the person, it is a time of self-reflection and surely they are changed by the time they are finished with the silent conversation with themselves. Ryne

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill

the conversation
round the pond
a frozen lily

top quarter champion =

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill
 

bottom half champion =

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill

bottom quarter champion =

streetlight silhouette
on the snow:
two lovers
 

streetlight silhouette
on the snow:
two lovers

snow-covered hill
white      perfect
before sledders arrive

streetlight silhouette
on the snow:
two lovers

Melanie McLay

winter moon
steam rising
from my cup of chai

Faith Martin

snow-covered hill
white      perfect
before sledders arrive

Sarah Corso

enjoying the calm
of winter’s first snow
*splat*
snow in my pants

Stephanie Dietrich

buried in blankets
I watch the snow settle
on the sill

streetlight silhouette
on the snow:
two lovers

together
we find
winter’s warmth

the conversation
round the pond
a frozen lily

The hardest decision I made between two haiku came in the competition for bottom half champion of the Winter Calm Kukai. Both of the above poems depict winter in a vivid sense. “buried in blankets” juxtaposes the warmth of being curled up in bed with the chill of falling snow. Yet, this haiku contains an air of serenity, of security and beauty. Winter is not characterized as harsh and cruel, the snow settles softly. The repetition of “s” sounds perpetuates the idea of tranquility. The second haiku has the single most amazing line of the entire kukai. Something about the phrase “streetlight silhouette” is amazing. Not only is it pleasing to the eye because both words are roughly the same length and start with s’s and end with t’s, but to the ear as well because they sound similar. Mentally, the image of a shadowed figure is intriguingly pleasing. This is another haiku that exudes tranquility and peace. In the end, I chose “buried in blankets” because it stimulated both sight and touch whereas “streetlight silhouette” only gave me visual imagery. Natalie

I feel like these two haiku could easily be the same story. I imagine a couple walking around the pond arm in arm, so in love with each other that they don’t even notice the cold. I also like to think that the lily is still barely alive, shining with ice crystals in the sun. Not biologically possible, I know, but the romantic in me can’t be helped. I like this idea of pure beauty surrounded by sharp cold. Be that beauty from a lily or young love, the contrast against the bleak cold makes the beauty all the more profound. Stephanie

freshly fallen snow
our silent night
is deafening

new fallen snow
writing my name
i run out of ink

following
someone else’s footsteps
through the snow

wintry morning
I sign my name
by the snowman

These two haiku were the top half finalists in my winter calm kukai contest. Its kind of funny since the first lines of each haiku is almost the same, but the subject of the haiku is completely different.

I liked the first haiku because of the word choice. Silent night and freshly fallen snow give you this sense of a peaceful, calm, warm feeling. And the third line doesn’t change the fact that it is silent or that the scenery is beautiful but it does change the mood. The silence isn’t peaceful or calm like you assume in the first two lines but it is nerve racking and painful. Its like a perfectly beautiful snowy winter night and a couple who should be sharing this lovely evening together are fighting and not talking. It really reminds you of the tension that forms during the quiet of the fight. I think it was the ability to completely change the mood but leave the scenery and sound the same that made me like this haiku.

To be perfectly honest when I read the second haiku for the first time I didn’t like it because I didn’t see what the heck the lines had to do with each other. I thought of it snowing outside and a kid in a classroom writing his name on a paper and his pen runs out of ink. So what? Then when I was reading the haiku with my boyfriend he mentioned this one and laughed a little at the fact that I had read the haiku now numerous times and still hadn’t caught on. All he had to say was “obviously it was written by a guy” for me to get the hint of what the haiku was talking about. Then it made perfect sense. Then I began to like the haiku because it is a complete euphanism and you don’t get it unless you already knew it or had someone explain it to you or clue you in. Maybe you could figure it out, but not likely. So that’s why I like this haiku. It successfully portrays an image without ever saying what the exact image is. Corrine

These two haiku really give a sense of “winter calm” through the depiction of these images imprinted in the snow. Footsteps and someone’s signature, these are both evidence that one person has been here in the snow before you. It reminds me of the times when parents let their children put their handprints and initials in the freshly paved driveway. Although the imprints in the snow will not last forever like those in the driveway will, in the haiku they are immortalized. Melanie McLay