to remind me it’s springtime,
but I am still grieving
the loss of the sakura tree
and the way she inspired my blooming.
Picture of the stump left behind
from the sakura tree that used to grow near my house.
Liner Notes for this Groove: This poem was created for the Friday Writings prompt at Poets and Storytellers United, What's There. One of the things that attracted me to the townhome I now live in was the cherry blossom tree growing right on the edge of the neighbor's property. It was cut down last year after being ill for quite a long time. I expect it will feel weird on my birthday when I won't be able to have a bowl of tea under its shade.
Too bad about the cherry blossom tree! Sounds like its life cycle was done though. Could you plant a flowering tree on your own property?
ReplyDeleteI'd need their stump to be gone first. I did offer to help pay for a replacement tree, so long as it was another cherry blossom. But I don't know if the owners remember that (they rent out the property and don't live there at all).
DeleteI love this ....
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen!
DeleteOh, it is always so sad when a tree is cut down!
ReplyDeleteIt broke my heart a bit. Thankfully other kind neighbors made me a teeny little tea scoop from the wood. It's not very traditional for Japanese tea, but I love it. I've named it Jawn Do. (Jawn is a slang word in Philly that means, well, just about anything and Do is "way of").
DeleteOh, I know what you mean. I had to look up sakura. I would miss it too.
ReplyDeleteI looked forward to those flowers every year. Because of the amount of sun our street gets, it bloomed a little later than the ones a few streets down, usually around my birthday.
DeleteNothing and no one can replaced love we've lost. It doesn't matter how much they try, how much we try... that hole remains. But it does grow smaller with time, especially if we decorate the edges.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a way to enjoy your tea... and the memory of your tree.
I will still have tea at that spot on my birthday and make it as special as possible. I'm still sad of course, but I'd be even sadder if I never had that beauty beside me for so many years. And I still have my trusty tea scoop made from the wood. That brings me a lot of joy.
DeleteAnother brilliant poem, Rommy. So many things we've lost and grieve. May springtime bring you beauty and joy in other unexpected and extraordinary ways, not to replace but to express gratitude...!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to find some joy in the beauty of springtime. Sometimes my heart aches with how new and bright everything is. There is still much left in the world that makes me smile.
DeleteViolets are one of my favourite flowers, hence their place on my arm! How sad about the Sakura!
ReplyDeleteI am strongly considering getting a tattoo on my arm with a branch of cherry blossoms and borage flowers surrounding the words "Courage, Dear Heart".
DeleteOh my, such a sorrowful image. I hope you find a new seed/sprout to nurture on the day of your birth XXX
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the irises may rule my flower bed. I am really such a lazy gardener but I don't want to pull any of them up.
DeleteThe Sakura tree will always remind you of Spring. And now that tree is gone. The flowers will have to work harder.
ReplyDeleteI spent some beautiful spring afternoons under its branches and no one can take those memories.
DeleteSo sorry about the tree. I recently visited a park to see them in bloom.
ReplyDelete