sakura,

桜。さくら。s a k u r a.

for three seasons they carefully
prepare, energy preserved & conserved
just to bloom for a little over a week
and then –
g o n e

花見 hanami: flower viewing,
a tradition where people gather together
and picnic beneath cascades of sakura
blossoms, welcoming s p r i n g,

i biked to a nearby park & kept my
d i s t a n c e , dip my paintbrush
in the light filtered through pale
pink petals, s o a k it in

an older lady with a cane walks by
and stops to smile at me and i wonder

what is essential?

don’t go anywhere or do anything
non-essential. only essential places
may stay o p e n,

i understand this.

but what if what’s essential to me,
is different than what’s essential
to y o u ?

and i cannot fault her, as she hobbles
along outside, down the sakura blossom
path that seems to widen just for her –

(and i know, that she does not fault me)

how do we protect one another, and still
honor and acknowledge what is essential
for us to live and not just survive?

six feet a p a r t or we’ll be six
feet u n d e r but i believe our hearts
are bigger than the distance in between us.

in japan sakura blossoms are inextricably
tied with w a r: lives lost, trees planted,
from the bushido spirt of the samurai to
planes flown by kamikaze pilots,

cherry blossoms live
b r i l l i a n t ly
and die young

a case study in the
ephemerality of life.

there is a concept in japan, which
stems from buddhism: ものの哀れ –
mono no aware, essentially,
“the gentle sadness of things”

the wind may blow the blossoms away,
they may wither and fall in the course
of seven days but still each tree
gives its all and b l o o m s
anyway,

finding beauty in the sadness,
the impermanence of life

not to be mourned, not to be
clung to, just acknowledging
the transience for what it is,

beauty in the sadness
the impermanence of life,
bittersweet.

a reminder, our emotions do not have
to be mutually exclusive, we can
celebrate and grieve at the same time

sakura blossoms are modest
mild in color & fragrance

and i don’t know what i feel when
i look at these sakura blossoms, petals
falling f l e e t i n g l y,

but this ache in my chest and the weight
of the world on all of our shoulders,
reminds me we’re  still in b l o o m.

… let these bones you have crushed
r e j o i c e // psalm 51: 8