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
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
