Letters: Readers write haiku

It's finally here: National Haiku Day. Newsday's Letters page received haiku submissions from more than 60 readers, and many people submitted several. We chose the poems that most closely conformed to the call to write about current events. So, without further delay, here's a sample of the very best from Newsday readers.

Election year blues

Negative spin zones flourish

Watch ads nauseam!

-- V.W. Walsh, Huntington

Economy bust!

Jobs, health care, Wall Street reform

Can't change overnight.

-- Aileen Kirschenbaum, Plainview

Tax reform to come.

Will it help all or hurt some?

Hope's alive 'til done!

-- Maureen Chase, Wantagh

Warm gusts, glaciers thaw

Colossal slabs quake the sea

Roaring thunder: SPLASH!

-- John Varsanyi, Massapequa

Road rage, OMG

Texting, speeding, way too slow

Get outta my way.

-- Linda Sardone, Sound Beach

Herman Cain pizza,

Choice of several toppings.

All very cheesy.

-- Judith Stefanou, Ridge

Goodbye, Herman Cain

One too many accusers

Candidacy gone.

-- Dori Cohen, Woodbury

Black Friday sales soar,

Creating corporate smiles.

Truth comes at Christmas.

-- Carol Strub, Huntington

Price of oil sky high.

Can't meet the out-of-range price.

Move to southern clime?

-- Marge McDowell, East Meadow

Football, basketball,

Coaches, universities,

Trust, given, taken.

-- Suzanne Richards, East Nortport

Lights shine at Gilgo.

Searching, hoping for a clue.

One killer, or two?

-- Donald E. Allen, Amity Harbor

Apathy is air

Silent, obscure, tasteless -- an

insidious stench.

-- Joan M. Schaefer

Testing is kids' bane.

What happened to learning joy?

Balance must be found.

-- Elaine Labrocca, Plainview

Could LIPA be the

Lesser of two evils? Or

The LIRR?

-- Richard Siegelman, Plainview

Had money in stocks

Did again, now don't again

Will never retire.

-- Diana O'Neill, Long Beach

Loser John McCain

Took a cheap shot at L.I.

Won't live in White House!

-- Carol Nissenbaum, East Meadow

McCain loses it

He forgot sailors' motto

That loose lips sink ships.

-- Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village

SAT cheats, why?

Could have done it on your own!

Now, you'll never know.

-- Joanne Phillips, Hicksville

An election comes,

Some candidates win, some lose.

But what about us?

-- George Thogersen Jr., Smithtown

Laid off in August

Job prospects are pretty bleak

Twelve dollars an hour?

-- Robin Ames, Coram

Police lab crisis --

Mangano taps new top cop,

Nassau's Thomas Dale.

-- Maria Manobianco, Farmingdale

New liturgy words

Can't enrich Catholic Mass.

Women deacons would.

-- Linda Bartunek, Calverton

The Fed gave banks loans

At .01 percent rates.

I'd like that deal, please.

-- Jeremy Pinquist, Valley Stream

Long Island homeless:

Jose, Jesus, Maria.

Not in my backyard?

-- Adele Werneburg, Hicksville

Why don't people know?

To stop wanton violence,

All guns need to go.

-- Selma Musicant, Whitestone

Ninety-nine percent

Occupy a street of walls

Let the classes war.

-- Marc Rosen, Glen Cove

Occupy Wall Street

To protest plutocracy

And gross injustice.

-- Cathleen Callahan, Farmingdale

Occupy Wall Street --

They show how the country is

more broke than they are.

-- Paula Camacho, Farmingdale

Occupy Wall Street

Big business will hurt us all

Help the little guy.

-- Kathy Herron, Jaqui Himberger,

Alina Papazoros and

Dan Turturro,

Miller Place High School