April 2020

On my birthday,
I will take my tea
under the branches
of a dying cherry tree.
It has its scars, like I do,
raw and still exposed.

Ants have worried their way into the crevasses
and I know those wounds will not close.

But I see the buds
of the promised pink
that swirls around me
at the end of every April,
even though many of the branches
will never bear a bloom again.

It is enough that some of its branches will still flower.
It is enough that I still take up my pen.


Close up of a cluster of cherry blossom buds
thinking about blooming. They're stubborn.

Song Choice: Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance (I couldn't resist using an AMV version with clips from My Hero Academia)

Liner Notes for This Groove: I pulled a double off today, utilizing both the prompt at Poet's and Storytellers United (Weekly Scribblings #14 Let's Use Pathetic Fallacy, Shall We?) and Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads, Play it Again prompt, A L'Arora.

50 comments:

  1. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful poem, Rommy! This is fantastic!💝 I love; "buds of the promised pink that swirls around me," and the well placed repetition at the end. I love it! Thank you so much for writing to the prompt!🥰 🥰

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  2. Sometimes "enough" is more than enough. This is one of those times.

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  3. Beautiful imagery ❤ I love the comparison between your internal wounds and the visible wounds of nature.

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    1. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for visiting. LOL, I love the rabbid icon you are using.

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  4. You know with news laden of Covid, i can understand the respite of your poetic soul
    Happy Wednesday Rommy. Thanks for dropping by my blog today

    Much💝love

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  5. That's all any of us can do, isn't it -- produce a few blossoms where we still can.

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    1. However they look and whatever form they take.

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  6. Spring to give us happiness and hope in such times.

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  7. Absolutely beautiful and a great analogy

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  8. To celebrate our scars. lose ourselves in the beauty that lingers, that survives...I needed to read this today. Beautiful poem

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  9. Well, being still making up your pen is better than not.
    ..

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  10. A scarred and stubborn cherry tree. Very nice, Rommy. (Also kudos for addition of My Hero Academia - my sons got me hooked on that.)
    Sometimes it is enough and sometimes I wonder. At any rate, please keep with the pen when the cherry blossoms fail to bloom.

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    1. I freaking LOVE that series. So bummed that we have to wait for the next season. It's easily on my top 10 list, and provided it doesn't flame out in a hot mess (I'm looking at you Neon Genesis Evangelion) it'll probably end up in my top 3.

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  11. So lovely! I particularly love your conclusion.

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  12. Well done on your double, Rommy, it’s lovely, and I if there was no virus and you were not so many miles away on another continent, I would invite you to take tea under the branches of my cherry tree, which should burst into blossom any time soon. It has scars and ants, too. I love the final lines.

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  13. Love, love ... ants have worried their way into the crevasses.

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  14. An apt reflection of true life; everything far from perfection, pain sealed together with pleasure, joy and sadness taking their turns....love this, Rommy!

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    1. LOL, yeah, that's how I'd spend my birthday anyway - reflecting on both things. But damn, it's going to feel extra real this year.

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  15. "Ants worrying their way" -- I love that word choice!

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  16. Yes, and even when Mother Nature takes back her tree entirely, your pen must continue to remember it, for how else will we know it, how else will our mind's eye see it?

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    1. I remember a particularly long attempt to put my pen down. When it dawned on me it was more painful *not* to write, I knew this is part of who I was.

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  17. That's beautiful... and yes one has to be grateful for the smallest things.

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  18. What a beautiful poem Rommy. Yes it is enough that we can still do the things we love despite the mayhem all around us.

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    1. Yeah. Definitely not to the same extent. But if I can't enjoy the Sakura festival in Philadelphia, I can have a little festival in my front yard.

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  19. Sweet. My dogwood trees are like that and I appreciate them more after reading this.

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    1. I'm glad I can inspire more love for the trees. :)

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  20. Hope is strength. A beautiful poem.

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  21. It is enough and then some, I think, this dance between trees and ink and self-encouragement. Wanting to be like we were in the past can be a heart-breaker. Life happens. And if we happen with it, then we will probably be lucky enough to continue blooming (and penning), even if in different ways.

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  22. Wishing you a happy Easter Sunday

    Much🌼love

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  23. ah, what is more beautiful than cherry blossoms in April?
    yes, i really loved the last two lines.

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    1. I look forward to the cherry blossoms every year.

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  24. A very beautiful and meaningful write!! Big Hugs!

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