You call me when the cherry blossom sway.
Pink petals like spring’s snow.
In twilight, as meadows fill
with the scent of freshly cut hay.
“Come to see me” you say on a shaky link.
“Why don’t you visit me?” I slowly reply.
“I’ve flown to meet you all winter.”
“Soon,” you promise. “I’ll be there before you blink.”
But you don’t come when the cherry trees bloomed out,
and decay reaches the branches’ tender sap.
Not when the first autumn leaves have fallen.
And the wind has drowned out my hollow shout.
Nor when winter’s cold has spread,
laying icy veils over the lakes.
They are as frozen in time,
as the inner rooms my heart embeds.
By: Jonna Kihlman. Published in Prosetrics Magazine, Issue 1 2024
Cherry Blossom Trees in Poetry
Cherry blossom trees hold deep symbolism in poetry. They often represent the ephemeral and transient nature of life, beauty, and love. Poets frequently use this imagery of to evoke feelings of fleeting beauty, the passage of time, and the fragility of existence.
One of the most renowned examples of cherry blossom symbolism in poetry is found in the works of the Japanese haiku master Matsuo Basho. His poem, “Ah, cherry blossoms!” expresses the profound sadness of their brief bloom, encapsulating the transient beauty of life. Another notable poet, Kobayashi Issa, captures the fleeting nature of life and the beauty of cherry blossoms in his poetry, using them as a metaphor for the impermanence of human existence.
In Western poetry, cherry flowers are to convey usedsimilar themes. In “In a Station of the Metro,” the modernist poet Ezra Pound uses the image of petals on a wet, black bough to suggest the evanescent nature of beauty and life.
The symbolism of cherry blossom in poetry transcends cultural boundaries, uniting diverse traditions in a universal meditation on the passage of time and the impermanence of beauty and life.
Read the swedish version of the poem here.
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