Lancashire Haiku by Shelley White

Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry consisting of three short lines that encapsulate a moment in time in vivid imagery. The subject is traditionally the natural world.

The three sets of haiku below were written during walks (ginkgo in Japanese) around Preston, Haighton, Fulwood, Bleasdale and the surrounding countryside.

Chingle Hall

Bounded by a moat once water-full

Where ghosts slip away

New Chingle Hall Farm

Leaping across the field

A startled deer, eyes fixed

Dingle Wood

Padding through the bluebells

A Boxer and a Jack Russell

Bleasdale stream

Hopping from pebble to pebble

Two grey wagtails

Fairsnape Fell

Making shadows on the hillside

Meandering gliders

Bronze age circle

Filling the surrounding ditch

Last autumn's leaves

Path by the Ribble

Clustering in the oak trees bark

Seven snails

Preston dock

Cosy on a nest of straw, plastic and rope

An expectant swan

Winter Ribble, low tide

The white flash of a goosander

Bobbing for fish

Shelley White has a Certificate in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.

Her stories, poems and flash fiction have been published in the book, 'Health Matters' (2008), Aware, the Lancashire Evening Post, Words With Jam, The Pygmy Giant and Every Day Poets.

Her haiku has been published in Scribblers On The Roof.

Shelley tweets in haiku at www.twitter.com/haikumad