Behold the shuttle
The lifeline to liberty
Temptress of travel
Shuttle buses were not around when haiku began.
But they were the subject of the recent Westport Transit District’s Wheels2U contest. And the above poem by Judith Marks-White snagged first place.
Judges Diane Meyer Lowman (the town’s poet laureate emeritus) and Peter Gold (WTD director) chose the longtime local writer’s entry, out of over than 220 submissions.
Wheels2U.
There were 2 second-place winners. Melissa Crouch Chang wrote:
Daffodil day trip
Botanical gardens bliss
Starts with Wheels2U
Harry Rimm said:
Home to train daily
Reliable and friendly
Train to home daily
The 4 third prize winners were Diane Reda-West:
Flowing stop to stop
Arriving on time smoothly
Easy and relaxed
Sara Roche:
Morning sun rises
Carefree, I wait on the curb
A ride to the train
Rich Hochman:
Cheap ride, warm inside
Awaits at your door or train
Efficient and green
And Alyssa Hyman:
Convenience is key
When you go to NYC
Wheels2U, and me!
Melissa Crouch Chang had a pair of honorable mention haikus:
No need to scrape frost
From your minivan windows
Winter Wheels2U
Relationship balm
Early morning Wheels2U
Lets your love sleep in
Jonathan Prager also earned an honorable mention:
Phone tap, van arrives
Efficient trip to the train
Zip, zip. Wheels2U
Marks-White won a $100 gift certificate to a Westport restaurant of her choice. The silver medalists earned $50 gift certificates; the bronze winners, $25 each.
Wheels2U Westport is the Transit District’s on-demand, group ride, door to train platform shuttle service. Residents and commuters to Westport can use the Wheels2U Westport app to request a pickup between 5:45 and 10 a.m., and 4 and 9:30 p.m. They will ride to or from the Saugatuck or Greens Farms train platform, and their front door anywhere in Westport. The fare is $2 when paid with the Wheels2U app.
For more information about Wheels2U, click here. For more information about the Westport Transit District’s services for the elderly and people with disabilities, click here.
(You’re always a winner when you support “06880.” Please click here to contribute to your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Who knew that Westport was such a hotbed of haiku writers! With over 220 haikus submitted it was extremely difficult to narrow it down and choose the winners. Diane Loman and I are delighted that so many Westporters embraced this, Diane’s favorite form of poetry, to pay tribute to the wonderful Wheels2U service!
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter the contest. The talent and creativity that went into each poem was abundantly clear. Whether or not you won one of the prizes,–you are all winners!
My favorite was Rich Hochman’s.
Don’t we all want to get back after our adventures to a warm fire?
Cheap ride, warm inside
Awaits at your door or train
Efficient and green