Hugo Williams
Cherry Blossom
Delicate red flames
Are finding their way
Out of the dark cherry branches.
They have discovered the sky!
Already they expect the clouds
To reward such fidelity.
O cherry tree, guest of the sunset,
Is this your or my responsibility?
Do they come out of the dragon earth?
Or out of my mouth, as I had feared?
I see their torches searching my mind
For a clue to their mystery.
They find instead some other little man,
Wandering the hillside with an unknown speech,
Gesturing wildly at the cherry trees.
Are we all the same?
And why are we at war
With easy things we are the reason for?
In time, the full-blown petals
Fall on such questionings,
Concealing dragon, man and mystery
In a brief reality. Our prayers
Are answered, but we are not satisfied.
We sweep them aside.
I wish the rain could quench this fever
Which is like an image going on forever,
But rain is not rain to me any more,
It is a warrior at the window pane.
I stand convicted by the Laws of Nature
Of gazing too long into the future.
O lovely cherry tree, come true.
Together we could celebrate the years.
Page(s) 78-79
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