December/January Kigo Challenge
Kigo, or seasonal words, are a literary element commonly used in haiku, that allow the poet to instantly transport their reader to a time and place.
For December/January we challenged our poets to use the following kigo in their pieces: oak, silver, and ivy. Below are the best submissions of both haiku and “One Breath” poetry.
an ivy wreathgathering the snow
midnight mass
Joanna Ashwell — UK
mulch pilesnug in the middle
silverfish
Jerome Berglund — New Orleans, USA
silver spoonin its reflection
my thoughts
Boryana Boteva - Sofia, Bulgaria
autumn noon —
each oak leaf
finds a grave
Hynek Koziol — Czech Republic
camping
aroma of oak wood
on the smoked salmon
Tuyet Van Do
since that time
in every oak hollow
an owl
Ben Oliver — Stroud, England
winter sunset
a ribbon kanzashi
in her silver hair
Bonnie J Scherer — Palmer, Alaska, USA
acorns the squirrels forgot oak forest
Cynthia Gallaher — Chicago
after New Year’s
the oak-packed wood stove
still ticking
Elliot Diamond — Philadelphia, PA, USA
wisps of silver
adrift in the wind
thistledown
Ruth Holzer — Potomac Falls, VA
cutting through
the contrails
old oak
Neha Singh Soni - India