Haikus About New York City That Will Warm Your Heart

It's easy to fall in love with New York. Nearly every fictional depiction of our city romanticizes it (we're looking at you, Manhattan...and Maid in Manhattan). We agree — NYC is pretty fantastic. But, what's it really like to live in the city that's so nice they named it twice? The New York Times posed that very question to its readers in a solicitation for haikus. It asked locals to wax poetic along one of six themes: the island, strangers, solitude, commuting, 6 a.m., and kindness.

The result? Over 2,800 submissions in just ten days. And, as expected, these five-seven-fives ring true — capturing a day in the life of the Big Apple. We're especially partial to Vanessa Vichit-Vadakan's "Morning Q Commute" and Carolyn Lengel's "Tourists In New York." These short poems remind us that despite all our gripes, NYC is something special. (The New York Times)