I really liked this poem and I will tell you how I imagined it.

A scarecrow, perhaps aged a bit, given the description of his clothes and items, I got a sense that he had been there a while and his clothes had started to fade into rags. I also got a feel of personality from the scarecrow - I imagined him feeling proud of himself for doing his job, and being very unaware of his age or his appearance.

Then in your ending, at first read I thought he had a little bird perhaps stitched onto his hat or a plastic one there for show, like so many scarecrows do. But on second thought I took it to mean that a real bird was indeed sitting on his hat the whole time and had figured this old chap was nothing to be scared of.

So what we have is a scarecrow who thinks he has kept everything harmful away - but a bird literally mocking him as he sits upon his hat and I can imagine laughing at him.

Maybe I am just in a deep thinking mood this morning, however I felt this little poem quite deep and meaningful if put into context of real life, and ageing and appearance etc. How other people see you and how you see yourself etc. ANd how easily we can be fooled.

I enjoyed this, and loved the unique title, very eye catching and of course I had to come and read the poem! Well done.

Congrats Hellon, nice to see your name up in lights.

Congrats on the win Hellon!!! Very well-deserved! I loved the vividness of this write and also how abstract it was, there was hidden meaning and a lot of personality I feel the reader has to dig in and detect using the clues you give..

One-worded titles lately have left me baffled! I love how it then pushes me to look it up, as I've never heard of this word before... I was guessing it was Japanese though. But it ties in the piece now that I know this is the "god/deity" of knowledge and agriculture, mostly symbolized by a scarecrow. I really feel like you give insight that I would have never thought about before....because when I think of a scarecrow, I think bait, and most of the time I don't see it as intimidating, just there for show, and who knows how efficient it is?

Loved your word choice of "leers" and "flannelette"....that brought the second glance back that maybe this scarecrow has outsmarted it's prey as well as people just passing by, thinking it has nothing to offer or do.

The ending was neat how you subtly concluded it then added the "....", like this will be the first among many.
So creative, enjoyed this immensely!!

I wish I was smart enough to find the meaning through your words ha, but I would have never guessed that this was about a Japanese god or deity. I had no idea, so that's actually quite a refreshing thought. Anyways you portrayed this all too well, definitely the perfect description of a scarecrow, I now see it perfectly. Interesting how you included the part of the mockingbird, it was very fitting, especially since mockingbirds symbolize innocence and since scarecrows don't move and are stable, they are quite innocent themselves. The thought brought me to how they say it's a sin to kill a mockingbird, and the book of course. You just have such perfect pieces such as this one that are short and to the point yet withhold so much meaning. Well done!

I had to read this a few times to get this image in me. Even though it talks about scarecrow, there is more to it if you apply it to reality/to a real person. All in all within this short piece it gives a chance for the reader to delve right into it. Congrats on the win.

Judges comment:

I had never heard of the term Kuebiko used for a scarecrow before..so I was instantly in by the title. I love that it wasn't just typical "Scarecrow". Anyway, moving past that lol. Simply put I really just love this poem. It felt like an excerpt from a longer poem, it left me wanting more. The images are gorgeous... I could picture it clearly in my mind. To go further into detail it also felt like perhaps an old man, maybe a hunter. Maybe sitting on his front porch waiting for someone, something to attack (apocalypse style maybe?) and just patiently watching.. waiting... knowing his time will come soon. Really gave me so many different ideas and inspired a little something of my own. This is wonderful

Judging Comments weekly contest June 10, 2013

Short but with a really great imagery. The title grabbed my attention as I never heard Kuebiko before then when I read the poem and searched what it meant, I found out that Hellon showed us a scarecrow within her poem. What I like the most was that, whether intentional or not, she added some humor to this piece with the last line " upon his hat a mockingbird.." I took the mockingbird as a bird that was mocking the kuebiko lol. I am not sure if I should consider the mockingbird as a predator but regardless it was a nice touch.

Judge Comment:

Hellon never ceases to amaze me with her talent for short and descriptive poetry.

I truly love the picture in my mind of a scarecrow, the details are so wonderful and yet it leaves me feeling as if its a larger picture within, maybe metaphoric as to the feelings of another.. Perhaps someone is so depressed they have become a scarecrow in a field. Either way I'm impressed and truly admire this poem.

The ending has a tasteful, abrupt and fun twist to it...

"Upon his hat, a mockingbird"

It leaves me wondering and having many thoughts... very fun and explosive!!