Haiku Contest 2022

Thank you for celebrating National Poetry Month with DC Public Library! This April, DC Public Library invited residents ages 6 and up to submit a haiku to the 2022 Haiku Contest around the following themes:

✎ Your love of books, reading or the library,
✎ Something small that gives you joy,
✎ DC in springtime, or
✎ Noticing your neighborhood.

We were thrilled to receive nearly 1,000 amazing entries for this year's contest. D.C. is one poetic city! We invite you to check out the winning entries below from all of our participating locations. Congratulations to all of our winners!

Anacostia Library

Children Category	Adult Category
My body stays home, But my mind travels the world On wings of a book Courtney H.	A cool steel drum breeze Cherry blossom petals dance The pieces of me   Courtney D.

Benning (Dorothy I. Height) Library

Teen Category	Adult Category
pink cherry blossoms every skin tone celebrates the beauful trees Remi M.	Glow Little Glowworm Keep shining beauful one The world needs your light   Michele
The district of life Art, culture, music, and love There’s nothing like home <3  Bailey M.	Slamming doors, speeding Cars! Cherry blossoms blooming! Wake up! War afar! Lisa W.
	Twenty Twenty Two! Black woman Supreme Court Justice! Almighty is Good Lisa W.

Capitol View Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Frogs jumping around Turtles sing on a log Geese flying above Evan W.	Depression is a Cage with no light unless you fight to be the light Timon L.	Books are just like us They bring feelings deep within Open one and trust   Serenity C.

Chevy Chase Library

Children Category	Adult Category
D.C. spring is warm The cherry trees are in bloom The birds sing sweetly! Elina H.	Radiant Black Joy Offers Peace to the Weary Liberating Souls   Stephanie J.
Cats from a shelter They don't have to do anything Kittens are so cute Martin P.	Leaves open in Spring Cherry blossoms in my mind Wind turns the pages Robert C.

Cleveland Park Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Spring is delightful cherry blossoms are blooming Let's get on our bikes!! Aidan	Flowers are in bloom, Once you ignore the dead trees, their beauty triumphs Saachi M.	"Libby" sleep timer means asymptomatic progress time to click "Renew"   Jeanie M.
My dear little friends or corgis to be precise I love them dearly Marshall		All winter neighbors Compete to shovel our walk - We must look ancient Margery R.

Francis A. Gregory Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
The sweetest quiet -  Silence, books, friendly people I belong right here Joy B.	Trees are green, tan, grey I am just one color, so I am not a tree Naeshaun F.	Happy surprises Instant Mood-change tonic, free Unexpected joy   Aressa W.
Spring is the warm air hitting me with a light breeze while the flowers bloom Shaia H.	My hood is ghetto Kids be outside every day It's trash everywhere Justice M.	A thank you is nice Showing appreciation often breaks up ice! Melba L.
I walked around the block noticing the dogs, the families playing in the park licking Lulabelle's ice cream The store owner knows me well and asks, "the usual?" Zoey S.	Learn the beat ready set Clap and tap now feel the beat Now stomp you got the beat Marquise B.	Rat race is the worse when your mindset wants to rest Double Dutch is what's best Robbin E.

Georgetown Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
A book pulls you in. Its stories become your own The world is quiet Katie G.	singing winter blues on the edge of summer gree inhale, exhale, kiss Eli R.	footsteps echo in the halls of the empty office - life begins again   Ariel C.
	Fresh fruit, juice and flesh Citrus colors, crisp or pulp Dribbles down my chin Hallie M.	The smell of paper A thousand lifetimes contained In those cracking spines Marcus B.
Books are doors to worlds I can never see in life Dreams right on pages Saida D.	When a man just dreams He never ever wants to return to where he started Cooper H.	On a cold spring day An old broken umbrella Fies fast in the wind Vian Borchert
	The walk to the door The feeling of the handle And the sigh of dogs Shane C.

Lamond-Riggs Library

Children Category	Adult Category
Insects are buzzing Love it or not spring is here Now T-shirts are here! Eli S.	City of Crossroads Crosswires, Instagram, Facebook, job Love is the way straight. Channon F.
A sun is better Flowers are better than leaves All plants are the best! Jaxon S.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
"The Joy of Reading A world of words bloom Taking me to wonder lands Happily, I go! Carina A.	fluttering pages a world at my fingertips my love found at last Lydia P.	A life raft - it seems a relief between the ends. Words - Stories - Shelter   Katie R.
Pink blooming flowers Beautiful cherry blossom Springfest every year. Jordin P.	Down turns the moonlight Away from the sorrow we crawl Into soft petals Madison M.	Pale petals float past Like pages leafed by fingers The book of spring shuts Ariel O.
The way the men walk The quick way the women talk All in eyes of hawks Sophia S.	out in the desert away from all the bright lights I can see the stars Pilar G.	The Tidal Basin Plasters in a pink array Cotton candy dreams Jesus C.
Warmth and tenderness Gives me joy and happiness; I feel protected Carina A.	Simple joy has fallen From a Furry friend to floor A delicate whisker Sara R.	Happy, calm,alone But wait - Awakened by a  Tiny Yorkie kiss Karen M.

Mt. Pleasant Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Splashing in puddles In your big yellow rain boots On a dreary day Atticus O.	The neighborhood fills With colorful blossoming joy a pink time of year Marley R.	Two green plastic chairs Small blossoms, a fresh nove The H4 gusts by   Hannah V.D.
Imagining a Place where we could be, a story everywhere Zabrin Z.	Planes fly through the clouds, Like fish through a tepid ocean, Slowly drifting away. Ocean waves crashing, Against the sorrowful beach, Filled with love and hate. The crunch of the sand, dispersing the eruptions built within its walls. The collective sighs, of souls grasping onto life. Never letting go. Felix B.	Saturday morning coffee toast crossword puzzle now for some fresh air John B.

Northeast Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Flowers of sunrise Pink and blooming on park trees As robins return Kajsa G.	Biking through my streets Seeing the flowers blooming Oh the thrills of spring Lucy W.	The city slept all winter. Now, awoken y equinox, pink blooms   Casey H.
Cherry blossoms bloom Their petals fall from the tree Underneath the sun Eliza S.		Strolling our sidewalks, cement, nature and faces the old and new merge Richard P.
Flowers bloom with light Just like chalk on the sidewalk This is spring to me. Adele B.		New spring birds arrive On route to far away lands Wish them safe travels Caroline M.
Meow, feed me please! Purr, purr, twine around my leg Paws pad toward the sun Astrid L.		My old friend blossom! You're back like a newborn babe. My hair is greyer. George P.
The rustle of books A sweet and soft melody Get comfy and read Aleena F.
Born in spring like you Like the blossom on the trees I grow up like buds Quinn C.

Northwest One

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Colorful tiger Giant and big animals Giganti tigers Dylan T.	The sky is darker and sun has left The night is mysterious and beautiful The stars remind me of my family Caitlyn H.	Pop, open, spring forth Color, texture, nature's art Refreshed and renewed   Susan D.

Palisades Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Hilegard the goat She eats eggshells and old trash Isn't she lovely Cate	Books are my passions! Libraries contain the keys to open passions Derek	An American looks At cherry blossoms and sees A short lived flower A Japanese friend Says we think their short life is Part of their beauty Heidi
		July 4th parade Laughter, cheer, music galore I love living here Anne
The tree grows very big I collect flowers from the pink dogwood The chickens eat blueberries Zoe	Escaping the heat Biking along the canal Oh! A blue heron Callie	With a swift kerplunk The stone fell in the water Sunk to the bottom Samantha
		Pink blossoms floating Warm sunshine and welcome smiles Spreading light and hope Alison

Petworth Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Cherry blossom trees petals drifting in the breeze falling so slowly Charlotte C.	The cloud and the blue sky the wind blowing my hijab the sight of no cry Mariam R.	Against the bare sky trees learn it does not matter which way branches grow Albert T.
A painting I see blues, reds, oranges form a world happiness, I feel Ruth G.	A string current destined to destroy, merged into us helplessness, fear, death Jully C.	Falling snow gives way petals now float in sunlight changes in the air Giancarlo C.
Rainbows are so bright rainbows are so colorful they come out in the sun Maya M.		Slow morning coffee under the falling petals of the season's end Daphney Q.

Rosedale Library

Children Category	Adult Category
Open up a book Feel the magic insideit As you turn the page Maya I.	I open the book I get lost in the story Don't come and find me! Ginette R.
	Thank you beautiful Children cleaning the river We are so sorry Jennifer S.

Shepherd Park (Juanita E. Thornton) Library

Children Category	Adult Category
Fantasies galore Incredible adventures Packed all in a book Sarika M.	Monuments soaring Wondrous new architecture Our kids love ant hills Michelle S.

Southwest Library

Adult Category
Navy Yard I go Baseball, water with the flow People to and fro Timothy B.	Mockingbirds gather My neighbor takes their picture Waterfront morning Kitty J.	April surprised As ravishing blooms unfurl under a wet sun Preeti S.
"Sakura in Bloom" Settle, blushing crown Petals floating down like snow Kakō to jōshō Amy A.	childhood toys, adults hood joys, stories cure what ails; minds free, bodies frail Robert B.	Leaves sparkle above as I leaf through the pages I leave my world here Ashton R.
Consumer of life I find beauty in her face She hides self conscious of it Dakita	When you say the words "I love you like..." the world cracks Open like my heart Preeti S.

Tenley-Friendship Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Red, orange and yelow Soon the strawberry sun sets and the night returns Sophia	sprawled across the lawn, a constellation of suns - March dandelions Jenin	Mosaic walls of Thought, love, hurt and history Spines that speak volumes Alice

Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Babies coo and cry They point at my bike and laugh My heart feels happy Zosia M.	Studying focus Education is the key Successful I aim to be Nehemiah J.	walking down U street my vision catches a glimpse peripheral rat Amanda S.
Four chickens are fun I enjoy chickens so much I love you chickens Sahar W.	Summer is so nice I enjoy seeing sunsets During the long days Cristela	I turn to reading To be taken far away And to find myself Molly M.
Flowers are pretty I enjoy cherry blossoms Petals bloom in spring Timur W.	I be ducking from the eds I take a trip to McDonalds I wake up I see red Darius L.	The pages unfurl And I rest in the shade of Numberless stories Matt O.
	Mornings make me happy I'm very well rested Mornings are the best Lillian O.

West End Library

Children Category	Teen Category	Adult Category
Rain pitter patter. Cold tears drip from the dark sky. Kids bloom everywhere. Nala	the icy white moon it is very gray outside pictures of the day Natajun T.	flowers start to bloom, pollen filled air is my doom, zyrtec sales will boom. Mikail H.
Koalas are gray. Crunchy leaves are yummy yum. Black nose, beady eyes. Anon		Noctilucent dusk Sun slips away through slight cracks bu returns at dawn. Sabrina M.
Oh, cherry blossoms. Please cherry blossoms so pink. Don't get too too old. Juliana		Public spaces, ew Thank you for sharing e-books Someone coughed on me Jessica
When pollen comes. Eyes be puffy, hard to breathe. Take the nebulizer to feel better. Kwaku		My HOA fee feudalism rebranded sad home ownership Susanna L.