Haiku..NYTimes asked readers to write haiku about New York City and I copied some.

[Lazarus]

KINDNESS|POET’S PICK
On the 6 to Spring
two cops help a tourist whose
map is upside down
— Frances Richey, 63, Manhattan

STRANGERS, COMMUTE
Subway circus act
Feats performed on silver poles
Jaded faces melt
— Alex Forbes, 56, Wingdale, N.Y.

STRANGERS
Strange how fast night comes:
Silence, as I pass through you,
wide awake at dark.
—Kaitlin Duffy, 24, Brooklyn

COMMUTE
morning Q commute
has the best smell of the day:
coffee and shampoo
—Vanessa Vichit-Vadakan, 43, Berkeley, Calif.

COMMUTE
Beware the puddle
of indeterminate depth
that swallows boots whole
—Mary M. Suk, 44, Queens

STRANGERS
Face seen across tracks,
We stare, and a train passes,
Face gone forever.
—Hillel Rosenshine, 14, Manhattan

STRANGERS
subway to the beach
two strangers in the first car
comparing surfboards
—Jeffrey Rabkin, 61, Manhattan

KINDNESS
Homeless gentleman
White cane seeks safe street crossing
Teenage boy takes arm
—Judith Smith, 79, Halifax, Nova Scotia

STRANGERS
Our eyes avoid but
If we looked we would see that
We might just be friends.
—Sarah Lenaghan, 13, Brooklyn

KINDNESS
Behind him a trail
of bread crumbs, popcorn and seeds.
He makes birds happy
—Gerard Middleton, 49, Brooklyn

COMMUTE
Cabs dart in and out
I curse and push the pedals
on my wet black bike
—Gary Momenee, 63, Durham, N.C.

STRANGERS
Mistrust grips the heart.
Though we travel in large packs,
we are still alone.
— Sandra Deng, 15, Elmhurst, N.Y.

ISLAND, SOLITUDE, 6 A.M.
Coney Island gulls
Boardwalk, burlesque, hot hot dogs
Sunrise, thick red grease
—Anna DiVito, 55, Westtown, N.Y.

STRANGERS
The apple grows big
pregnant with the promises
strangers never keep
— Martin Thomas, 68, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands

ISLAND
water surrounding
a universe in the world
tethered by bridges
—RC deWinter, 63, Haddam, Conn.

KINDNESS
Tourists in New York
Three abreast, strolling, chatting:
I want to shove you.
—Carolyn Lengel, 52, Garrison, N.Y.

COMMUTE
cab driver Ahmed
used to be an engineer
American dream?
—Millet Israeli, 43, Manhattan

ISLAND
If build and destroy
Are music notes, our island
Is a symphony.
—Laura Seigle, 43, Manhattan
KINDNESS
Sparrows come and eat
the line of seeds left there by
the old man whistling
—Eléna Rivera, 52, Manhattan
STRANGERS|POET’S PICK
Riding through the park
no daffodils blooming yet
— but unbuttoned coats.
— Sharon Rousseau, 50, Manhattan
SOLITUDE
Coffee by myself
The wind whispers names of friends
Yet alone I sit
—Camilo Durr, 14, Manhattan
ISLAND
It floats on water
Glass skyscrapers sit on top
The restless city
—Zoe Carter, 14, Manhattan
ISLAND
If Atlas held our
Island and anger turned to
Lead, he would drop it.
—Laura Seigle, 43, Manhattan
6 A.M.
There’s not much twerking
Going on at six a.m.
On the ferry boat.
— Robert D. Diamant, 72, Staten Island
6 A.M., SOLITUDE
Red Hook Terminal:
cranes like life-size legos loom;
the future does, too.
— Simone Blaser, 28, Brooklyn
6 A.M.
Park at Winter dawn
We danced through each orange gate
Unconcealing Spring
—Jeff Taylor, 67, New Hampshire

COMMUTE
curse the day I left
energy and awesomeness
now I Amtrak in
—Susan M. Chagrin, 45, Fulton, Md.
COMMUTE
Circular hole in
My MetroCard; bigger hole
where you used to be
— Maura Monaghan, 16, Blauvelt, N.Y.
COMMUTE
Drummers on the train
Pounding my headache away.
I gave them a buck.
—Margaret Gwyn Dunham, 63, Manhattan
COMMUTE
Crick in my neck from
sipping this ice cold coffee.
L Train, where are you?
— Kristina Mueller, 27, Brooklyn
ISLAND
an island once far
now the center of the world
this New York City
—Mark Stephen O’Brien, 81, Little Rock, Ark.
ISLAND
If jackhammers wrote
Code, our Island would launch a
Facebook every day.
—Laura Seigle, 43, Manhattan
COMMUTE
walk in late, cat mad.
“I’m sorry, Snoop, train trouble.”
feels good to be missed.
—Margaret Gwyn Dunham, 63, Manhattan
COMMUTE
4 years on this train
Reading, sitting next to you
Too shy to converse
—Karen Munro, 56, Wallaceburg, Ontario
STRANGERS|POET’S PICK
“Insufficient fare!”
But, without saying a word,
stranger swipes me in.
— Janet Gottlieb, 59, Brooklyn
COMMUTE, SOLITUDE
The man shouts his need
He has no home, food, or leg
His chair rumbles through
—Stephanie Walter, 55, Bay Shore, N.Y.
COMMUTE
we are all of us
waiting, wanting, wondering,
local or express
— Adam Bard, 44, Brooklyn

SOLITUDE
Lonely in the night
Alone on a crowded train
Many hearts, one soul
—John McCarthy, 54, New Rochelle, N.Y.
KINDNESS
Bottles, sticky cans —
5 cents at a time you pick.
Here’s mine, and five bucks.
—Siu Lo, 30, Manhattan
SOLITUDE
Union Square Market
Blueberries for ten dollars
New York City blues
—Sharon Cohen, 33, Dallas
COMMUTE, STRANGERS
My hand on your hand
Your face a whisper from mine
For one stop only
—Isabel Martin, 32, Brooklyn
6 A.M.
Lone pigeon bobbles
Garbage cans rattle and clash
Dawn at Spring & Mott
—Carol Slocum, 66, Greenwich, Conn.
COMMUTE
Grand Central echoes
muffled voices and footsteps
Metro North awaits
—Carol Slocum, 66, Greenwich, Conn.
6 A.M.
Sweet scent of decay
slow wafts through a city’s fumes;
6 a.m. pick-up.
—Sallie McKenna, 71, San Francisco
ISLAND, COMMUTE, STRANGERS
Elderly couple,
On Circle Line for a date,
Giving love a chance.
—Nurit Israeli, 71, Manhattan
STRANGERS
Matching blue flickers -
Watching TV together
on floors 10 and 4
—Isabel Martin, 32, Brooklyn

KINDNESS
The New Yorker is
Not kind, they say. I say, he
Just left it at home
—Flor Arley Hodge, 15, Bronx
COMMUTE
I would take a G,
And ride in the smelly car,
to be close to you
—Jeffrey Yurcan, 30, Philadelphia
ISLAND
On Skyscraper Isle
Where giants and homeless meet
But the world resolves
— Ethan Gordon, 23, New Orleans
SOLITUDE
This concrete, these dreams
Crafted before I got here
Gone before I left
—Libby Merritt, 23, Manhattan
SOLITUDE
Crowded subway car;
no one knows me- a comfort
and an affliction
— Maura Monaghan, 16, Blauvelt, N.Y.
COMMUTE
Packed subway morning
Field trip of loud kids step in
This is my nightmare
— Steve Poleschuk, 27, Brooklyn
6 A.M., STRANGERS|POET’S PICK
I hear them fighting
Through the thin wall between us —
but I don’t take sides.
—Nurit Israeli, 71, Manhattan
SOLITUDE, KINDNESS
New Year’s firework blooms
upon the Big Apple’s sky
lights up my dream, still
—Anna Yin, 44, Mississauga, Ontario
KINDNESS
If you buy the beers,
I’ll buy kebabs. Let’s call it
Insider trading
—Libby Merritt, 23, Manhattan
6 A.M.
Skyscraper starlight
Bids goodnight to tie-dye skies
In neon Times Square
— Karen Maquilan, 32, West New York, N.J.
COMMUTE
“Can you spare a dime?,”
he politely said to her.
“No,” she says, no shame.
—Margaret Gwyn Dunham, 63, Manhattan

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
The City’s timeless,
But still, don’t let it fool you.
It’s never the same.
—Larry Garland, 60, New Rochelle, N.Y.

SOLITUDE
Trees. Grass. Birds of prey.
Garden in bloom. Placid pond.
Lost in Central Park
—Millet Israeli, 43, Manhattan

STRANGERS
Every single day
We walk past each other but
I’ll never know you
— Helen Huynh-Trinh, 21, Brooklyn

COMMUTE
Subway tracks at night
Patter of leftover rain
Or rat feet, maybe
—Laura Baranik, 30, Queens

STRANGERS
Who are these people
Who smilingly give money
To Times Square Elmos?
—Dorian Devins, 55, Manhattan

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
Six-thirty a.m.
Pink sky and thickening buds
Birds chatter, it’s spring
—Kim Philipps, 48, Bronxville, N.Y.

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
Crocuses are late
Only snowdrops have arrived
A slow train to spring
—Kim Philipps, 48, Bronxville, N.Y.

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
The snow piles are gone
And reveal abandoned trash
In the morning light
—Kim Philipps, 48, Bronxville, N.Y.

STRANGERS, COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
First shorts of the year
Spied on walk to Metro North
On a brave student
—Kim Philipps, 48, Bronxville, N.Y.

STRANGERS
We can spend the night
together, but I expect
bagels in morning.
— Natasha Danielá McGlynn, 28, Washington

COMMUTE
Flood watch in effect
Commuting in wintry mix
Don’t slip on the stairs
—Robert Anderson, 29, Jersey City

COMMUTE
Just one train later
Would have made the difference.
He would have been there.
—Margaret Gwyn Dunham, 63, Manhattan

COMMUTE, SOLITUDE
I just want some lunch.
Been riding this train all day!
Katz's! Here I come!
— Alexander Frederick Spilberg, 30, Manhattan

STRANGERS, KINDNESS
she hands me kleenex
tears stream quicker down my cheeks
on the two, thank you
—Katrina Brown, 28, Brooklyn

COMMUTE
Homeless man on train.
He sat there staring at me.
Do I look okay?
—Margaret Gwyn Dunham, 63, Manhattan

SOLITUDE
There are places in
Central Park, where you see no
Buildings, only trees.
—Laura Seigle, 43, Manhattan

6 A.M., COMMUTE
Six a.m. commute
a city of rectangles…
except for the clocks
—Alan S. Bridges, 57, Littleton, Mass.

KINDNESS
Kindness is when we
Lean on each other’s shoulders
On the subway pole
—Sarah Lenaghan, 13, Brooklyn

STRANGERS, COMMUTE, KINDNESS
I give a free swipe
to a stranger since I have
unlimited time.
— Sonia Halbach, 26, Manhattan

SOLITUDE
those who stand so close
on this eight a.m. train ride
remain so distant
—Bob Finkelstein, 46, Philadelphia

ISLAND
The island, taken.
Concrete seeping to the heart,
the old world is dead.
—Marjorie (Jorie) Coe, 13, Manhattan

6 A.M.
streets strangely quiet
glass towers cast rosy hues
parks host eager dogs
— Lawrence T. Choi-Hausman, 46, Brooklyn

STRANGERS
I walk near Times Square
Stop at crosswalk, look at map
Behind me, “Move it!”
—Russell Henderson, 62, Milledgeville, Ga.

STRANGERS
this city’s a place
where a stranger’s shoulder pad
may be a chin rest
— Peter Valentine, 46, Brooklyn

ISLAND, KINDNESS
Lady Liberty
Shines with green springtime treasure
Of honor and faith
—JoyAnne O'Donnell, 41, Emmitsburg, Md.

ISLAND
No Man’s an Island
Not on the Morning F Train
Why Hello Armpit
—Jason Paul, 27, Brooklyn

COMMUTE, SOLITUDE
A moment of bliss
When tunnels steal our WiFi
Quick glimpse of freedom
—Emma Solomon, 18, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.

ISLAND
Rent: too high for me.
I’m forced to move to Jersey
where no one visits.
—Megan Hauser, 38, Brooklyn

SOLITUDE|POET’S PICK
On the roof, standing,
flying his kite in the sky
the street disappears.
— Eugene Dunscomb, 83, Southbury, Conn.

COMMUTE
Words dance on paper
Murmuring, screeching metal
A thousand arms sway
—Jessica Velez, 24, Queens

6 A.M.
Dodgers beat the Yanks
October of ‘55.
“Glory Days,” Springsteen!
—Robert D. Diamant, 72, Staten Island

STRANGERS, SOLITUDE, KINDNESS
Too rushed to say hi,
Faces pass hurriedly by
But Joy! The rare grin!
— Lindsay Lieberman, 29, Manhattan

6 A.M.
fish market morning,
a flourish of spring heat makes
the fine gill slits bloom
—Amy VO Maffei, 45, Washington Township, N.J.

6 A.M.
Hidden among the
Sleepwalking, caffeine zombies.
A morning person.
—Aimee Estrada, 35, Hyde Park, N.Y.

STRANGERS
Strangers become friends.
Shoe and paw prints show the way
around the dogpark.
— Mary E. Moore, 83, Gladwyne, Pa.

COMMUTE
Crowded train. We bump.
She squares off. I roll my eyes.
Head ****. Pause. Smile. Smile.
—Kiki Bowman, 32, Brooklyn

STRANGERS
I have a dollar
But I’m saving it for you,
L Train drum couple.
—Sarah Shanfield, 26, Brooklyn

6 A.M.
The neon orange
Of the kids cheese dust fingers
All over this pole
—Sarah Shanfield, 26, Brooklyn

SOLITUDE
A sad, old cabbie
Telling about his divorce
I listen and nod
— Jessica Perl, 28, Kagoshima, Japan

6 A.M.
As we leave for work
Youngsters head home from parties.
Eras intersect.
—Amparo Pikarsky, 59, Edison, N.J.

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.
Crumpled states of sleep
First misty light on Hudson
The hamster wheel turns
— Pamela Varkony, 67, Allentown, Pa.

STRANGERS
It’s easy for her
to sniff a stranger when I’m
left holding the bag.
—David Schroeder, 51, Manhattan

SOLITUDE, STRANGERS
Left on the sidewalk
A lonely small sparkly shoe
Inside, a dead leaf
—Jane M. Kenny, 63, Highland Park, N.J.

SOLITUDE, STRANGERS
Brought my old guitar
to scream with on Saint Mark’s Place
Where are all the punks?
—Allan Andre, 27, Queens

ISLAND
Auto, boat, bus, train.
It’s New York island hopping!
Tan not included.
—Colleen Tremont, 28, Manhattan

COMMUTE, 6 A.M.|POET’S PICK
If the “F” comes now,
I could get there, right on time.
But I’m still in bed.

— Jill Helene, 34, Manhattan

STRANGERS
Young, blind, they collide
His dog guides him around her
Oh, what could have been...

—Liz Sippin, 56, Fairfield, Conn.

COMMUTE
Sandwiched between men
I ride the packed subway car
“Is that your hand, creep?”
—Liz Sippin, 56, Fairfield, Conn.

6 A.M., COMMUTE
Chill tempest at dawn,
Cab soaks with a puddle, still,
Spring breeze like champagne.
—Dan Stackhouse, 43, Manhattan

STRANGERS
I know you, don’t I?
You were me five years ago,
Dreaming of New York.
— Adam Bard, 44, Brooklyn

COMMUTE, SOLITUDE
Flakes of mottled skin
from upturned shoe fall, a light
dusting on pale blue
— Janine Stankus, 28, Queens
COMMUTE
Let us praise the one
Who squeezes through subway doors
Spilling not a drop
— David Stoller, 64, New Hope, Pa.

KINDNESS
Dollar pizza joint
An oasis in New York’s
Harsh desert of cost
— Dennis Francis, 42, Wards Island, N.Y.

[Parsi]

Wow. You had said some.
That's more than I can get through.
But thanks very much.

[renee]

Thank you, Lazarus.

I didn't know how much I miss being able to hop a commuter train and
stay in Manhattan or Brooklyn with family or friends.
It was my home away from home away from home.

So much imagery of movement, dense eclectic crowds and moments that
define life and humanity in a fraction of a moment and in a few short words.
Surprises down every street.

The poignancy is thick and humor always lurks.
I do love NY.
It is a one of a kind creature- not usually friendly to poor and low income
but it challenges you to be strong and hang onto your humanity

Thank you, Lazarus.
I want to ride a fast express subway so much.

[nuthatch]

Wow, sounds like there's lots of lonely people in New York . . . but then there are everywhere . . . sad.

[Lazarus]

Maybe loneliness is sad. You are right. Of course you are right. But, loneliness produces such beauty and leads many on that more untraveled path. And it helps many to find we are not alone with our feelings of loneliness.

[Gary]

I like reading them. I cant rhyme and I cant follow Haiku.

[renee]

Heard a quotable line read by an author from a new piece of fiction.

"solitude is something best experienced in the company of another"
or at least a close paraphrase.

I think the quote is appropos to the haiku.

Gary, two more syllables in the middle of your post and you got it.

[Lazarus]

I like reading them. I cant rhyme and I cant follow Haiku.

Hi Gary,
I like reading them too. Just came in from the greenhouse, wet and muddy. I am proud that I fell out of bed and into the greenhouse to spray the fig trees. Now I am sitting with morning coffee and reading through some of those poems. It is a combination of pleasures making for a truly satisfying morning.

[SalpalSally]

Morning sun is true
And so it brings on the dew
From Linda to you.