Haiku poems written by children went on display at Bentalls this week

Children between the ages of 7 and 10 have been exploring Japanese short poems over the last few months as part of ‘Haiku Hopes’.

The project is part of Kingston Connections, a story-telling festival .

The poems of Nancy Bucke, 9, Sam Wakefield, 8, and Erin Crombie, 7, were three of the first twenty put on display.

The trio went to see their work at the department store.

Nancy, from St John’s Primary School, said: “We had a great time making up our poems and it’s brilliant to see it here."

The Kingston Connections team have been delivering workshops at primary schools across the borough, to encourage pupils to get creative.

The Bentalls Store will soon be host to fifty of the best haikus from the project.

Stuart Bird, writer in residence at Surbiton High School, who ran the workshops, said: “The quality of the poems is wonderful. You have children producing some thought provoking and beautiful verse.”

Kingston Connections takes place between June 24 and June 30 and includes former justice minister Jack Straw, a children’s TV star and the tale of Kingston’s 18th century ‘pornographer’, as well as puppets, folk singers and a community choir.

To find out more, visit kingstonconnections.co.uk. Tweet your own haiku to #haikuhopes

Here are the best Haikus:

A bed on a street
ignoring and walking by
finally, a penny

Jasmine,  age 9

A baby alone

Crying in the wet green grass
The morning brings light

Anna, age 10


Sitting on the corner

Scratching his overgrown beard
Reaching for some hope

Tom, age 10


A homeless man

Under an old bridge
Finally found money

Kelsha, age 10


A girl cleaning stairs

In a scary dark orphanage
She could be happy

Paige, age 9


In the gloomy night

Swiftly and gently it went
Red lantern glowing

Anoushja, age 9


A man running fast

Cannons bombing in the sea
War needs to end now

Stella, age 9


Cold moonlight shining

Bullets flying everywhere
Peaceful countries

Joe, age 9

 

In the noonday sun
A man rushes home from work
To get to his wife

Jake, age 10

 

Four birds are flying
Dark black sky turns to bright blue
In the summer’s June

Helaina, age 10

 

Fire burning bright
A winter’s evening
Best gift ever. Dad!

Mercedes, age 9

 

Cold snowy day
Blossom on the mountain top
Swaying in the breeze

Miisa, age 9

 

Outside the window
The poor helpless family
You should go to help

Iris, age 9

 

A man looks like my dad
Wearing a South Africa top
He comes and hugs me

Max, age 10

 

A snowy mountain
Swaying in the fast warm breeze
A chocolate tree

Jessica, age 9

 

Polar bear clings for life
On a giant iceberg sinking
Drowning cub clings on

Aaliyah, age 9


A girl in the pool

About to drown. She starts
Swimming gracefully

Minnie Kitt, age 10

 

Last day of school
School is over forever
I want to go back

Sofia, age 8

 

Having fun without work
Breaking the rules of boredom
With a world of consoles

Nazifa, age 9


Parks full of rubbish
A girl picks up a can
A new life begins.

Anna, age 9


 

Parks of solid gold
New beginnings come to life
In the sparkling stream

Hannah, age 9


On a hot day

In hospital people lying sick
Stop the cancer. Now. Now.

Sara, 9

 

In Africa, in the dark
Dirty water runs on the street
Everything turns clear

Ella, age 9


I have no feet

I dive and swirl
I am a kite

Jack Hickson, 9

 

Hungry Africa
There is no food to see
But they have hope

Tommy, age 8

 

Vaccinations now
For unfortunate children
Suffering will stop

Emily, age 9



In Kingston getting
Kindness out of my account
Ready for a new day

Nancy, 9


Insects are clever

In the centre of London
Humans aren’t rulers

Sam, 8


Make it snow ice cream

Make people out of sunshine and lightning
Houses out of coral

Erin, 7



Centre of the ocean
A shark is doing backstroke
And nobody dies


Lucca, 8


Stop wars!

Make the dead people alive
Destroy gunpowder

Miles, 7

Poor people to have food,

houses to live in, everyone deserves
to be treated the same

Amelie, 8


A happy panda

Eats bamboo in the forest
Runs away from hunters

Jallal Gellaledin, 9


A hot summer’s day

Penguins at the hot seaside
They melted at night

Ivana Popovic, 10


A boy plays basketball

Everybody laughs at him
He scores a basket

Romin Faalzada, 10

 

Ball stuck in a tree
The morning light lit the sky
The ball is a bird

Jaiden Gould, 9


Six legged spider

Scuttles through the long grass
A little girl screams

Jamie Moore, 9


Stuck in a rose bush
Long ears poking up
A small white bunny

Carla De Paula, 9