British schoolgirl Gracie Starkey never had much interest in poetry.
But when she was given the task of writing a haiku after a Saturday morning workshop at her school, where she also learns Japanese, inspiration struck.
The 14 year old from Gloucestershire penned this haiku after taking a walk with her friend.
Freshly mown grass
clinging to my shoes
my muddled thoughts
Her poem went on to beat 18,247 entries to take out the top honour in the English-language section of prestigious haiku competition organised annually by a Japanese tea company Ito En.
She is the first non-Japanese winner of the competition, which attracts almost two million entries each year, and found herself treated like a celebrity when she was flown to Tokyo and arrived at the Imperial Palace Hotel for the prize ceremony.
"Everyone was taking pictures and there were at least 20 camera crews and photographers. It was amazing," Gracie told the Guardian.
"I spoke a little in Japanese explaining who I was, my age and about my school and friends, then I spoke in English with my teacher translating."
Its non-traditional form does not follow the classic five-seven-five syllable pattern, but it impressed haiku poet Tsunehiko Hoshino and Japanese literature expert Adrian Pinnington, who judged the English category.
"This is a very unique and fresh poem," Pinnington said of Gracie's entry.
"The author is walking across a freshly cut lawn and some grass gets on to the bottom of their shoes. The subtly differently coloured blades of grass create a random pattern. Thinking about life while walking across the lawn, the author comes to think of it as reflecting their own complicated thinking. The expression 'muddled thoughts' is especially skilfully used."
In addition to winning the trip to Japan, Gracie's poem was written out by a famous calligrapher, and she received a cash prize.
Her poem will be reproduced on thousands of bottles of green tea, in English and Japanese.
"This has certainly made me more interested in poetry and in Japanese culture," she says.
