The Cherry Tree

Free verse

A Cherry Tree

 

Just now

     I need to think

     of cherry trees

     to recreate the awful beauty

     of the blooms

Gnarled bent and ancient

     to perfection

     in the manner and the style

     most beloved

 

How Japanese they are

     on schedule of the blooming

     symbol of the samurai

     it is said

 

The ancient and the modern

     often clash

     a structure

     must be built

     a tree is in the way

 

One tree

     among

     the others

     selected for the sacrifice

     in the style of  the

     Chichenitza Maya

     a blade

     is put into the heart

     this time

     a whining chainsaw

     by a little man

 

Soon

     the tree is felled

     divided into segments

     stacked

     to wait disposal

 

Only

     to be full

     of bloom again

     within my mind

     in April

     every year

Author's Note

On seeing an ancient cherry tree cut down to make a truck path