sakura

clouds of springtime
unfold their petals as vapour
a bloom-like mist on once-bare trees
and the turn of a year passes
its one moment of being
as yet uncommitted
to memory

new snow falls
in a reprise of sunlight
still cold as it touches ground
the petal-pale rose-hued snowfall
of a hundred thousand trees weeping
at the first sign of days risen new from old
as all time refuses to bring haste to its passing

take tea with me now under the cherry-boughs
sip its liquid into the mouth like words inhaled
in the reverse of every spoken moment

flowers are time shed into time
gone as soon as they open
confetti on the marriage
of then and tomorrow
while after hanami
we drink tea
in what is
now

drink
to whatever
lies before
us

© BH, 2019

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Another poem, written as a response to Poetry24’s Sunday challenge - IN A WORD - which was ‘Swing’. I Googled the news and found:
Action News
Cherry blossom season is in full swing in Philadelphia
https://6abc.com/weather/cherry-blossom-season-is-in-full-swing-in-philadelphia/5240566/

I got caught up in the Japanese symbolism of all that and this was the result. Hopefully a bit of Zen percolates through. Just a little…

Then I was reminded that Japanese kamikaze pilots carried cherry blossom on their missions as a symbol of their sacrifice. So I wrote yamazakura…