I heard a story this morning on NPR in which listeners had been invited to submit recession-inspired haikus.  Some were heartbreaking; others darkly hilarious.

All in seventeen syllables.

It got me thinking about the economy of words — and how the best speechwriters make every sentence as meaningful and muscular as possible, given the limited amount of information any audience can absorb.

I shared some of these musings with the multi-talented David Litt, a recent addition to our team at West Wing Writers, and he responded with the stanzas below, which I hope readers will enjoy as much as I did.

“Girl you are so fine,
I made you dinner myself.
Mmm … Ramen Noodles.”
- A “Recession Haiku” from NPR’s Planet Money podcast.

A contest challenge.
NPR’s “Planet Money.”
Econ-themed haiku, please.

Readers sent them in.
It must have struck quite a chord.
Over two-hundred.

(A link to favorites.)
I sit at my desk and think:
“Why so popular?”

Here, a shameless plug
For Haikudetat.com
A friend’s website.

This is what I like:
Beginning, middle, and end.
In only three seconds.

And, as belts tighten
Writing should not be immune.
A thriftier form.

Talk is/remains cheap,
Like leverage, pre-bubble burst.
Can Haiku save us?