WHYY’s Morning Edition listeners honor National Poetry Month through haiku
WHYY's Morning Edition listeners celebrate their neighborhoods through haiku during National Poetry Month.

Greenfield Elementary School playground. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
In celebration of National Poetry Month, WHYY’s Morning Edition listeners have submitted haiku about their neighborhoods. Haiku, of course, is a traditional form of Japanese poetry with three short lines — the first and third with five syllables, and the middle with seven. The lines rarely rhyme.
—
Martha MacIntyre of Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania
Beneath snow, Wyndmoor
shimmers. Neighbor’s son shovels
Our drive unbidden.
—
Chris Goldstein of Parkway Spring, New Jersey
Crowded aurora
A flower, dense garden drive
in spite of the state.
—
Sara Hertz of Ambler, Pennsylvania
Ambler What a Town
Friends and neighbors all around
Visit Ambler soon
—
Annie Chase of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
(This haiku is specifically about the Cynwyd Heritage Trail)
Trail’s end just starting
Something bending into branch
blooming heritage
—
Helen Mangelsdorf of Roxborough
People walking dogs,
SEPTA buses pass them by.
Harold mows the lawn.
Joe walking Russell
Going past Len’s empty porch,
as Carl plays his saw.
—
Sarah Black of East Falls
Black Friar, Hawthorne
Buckingham and Lowry’s Lane
Old Oaks, Barley Cone
“1950’s love”
We can almost fill a bus
Be kind, show grace, love
Scooters, bikes, laughter
Capture the flag, Basketball
“Old Oaks” is the BEST!
—
Jay Robby Lassiter of Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Wawas & strip malls
Wegmans Whole Foods Acme too
Suburbia yaaaaSSSSSS
—
Lisa Konigsberg of Media, Pennsylvania
Trees lean good neighbors
Across the pike cars blossom
Media is home.
—
Claudio Kuhn of Rose Valley, Delaware County
Rose Valley, Del Co
Sylvan and quiet, alas
No trick-or-treaters
—
Jonny Meister of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
How to put Life and
Its many wonders into
Seventeen syllab
—
Erin Brennan of Three Bridges, New Jersey
Pizza from Luna’s
Neighbors watching over me
Three Bridges NJ
—
Kathy Wemer of Mount Holly, New Jersey
Downtown Mount Holly
History, food, music, Beer
Everyone fits in
—
WC Trust of Chester County
Summer meadow night
Strung with dainty lustrous pearls
and cricket gossip
—
Colette Speakman of Havertown, Pennsylvania
Hockey goal in street
Eyes dart, challenge – need to pass?
Guilty I drive through
—
@HaikusByIsaac of Merion Station, Pennsylvania
The grand mansion’s stead
Black iron spikes now protect
Eight suburb-castles
From midnight to dawn
Three rabbis rotate shuls for
Cheesecake-fueled learning
—
Zetta Elliott of West Philadelphia
Wind chimes and church bells
baptize us; in the gutter
blossoms blanket grit
—
What do you love about your neighborhood? Can you write it in 17 syllables? Send your haiku to newsroom@whyy.org.
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