The white cherry tree
sheds its blossoms with the sun's late rays,
carelessly on the neat lawn, all about the place.
I lie with my head in the grass;
White petals settle near my face.
White petals whisper behind my ear.
They wake me from my daze.
Its twisted trunk is heavy and tired
Of Spring's budding burden.
Its bark is dry with loose folded skin
with curses in creases hidden.
The bark cracks and the curses rise and wait
Slyly in lithe branches with blossoms ridden.
It creates an illusion of Spring.
April's first embrace of white...
Its blossoms creep upwards in tangles
into Jupiter's serene blue sky,
Shameless in their insidious ways...
They weave hopes of love in thin air.
Sending the heart on a wild goose chase,
they play hide and seek with the Easter hare.
Oh! The tree plays tricks!
under the the white mask
of a clever clown:
Poker faced it deals its cards
The deceitful Jack of Hearts.
Just a week's surfeit of white,
And then the flowers fall
As suddenly as they came.
Oh! The flowers cheat!
It's not really Spring...
They bring dark clouds of rain!
Axe the Cherry Tree!
By George! It tells lies!
It bears no fruit, its flowers decay...
It's tripped me on a treacherous root.
It's fooled me on April's first day.
5 comments:
i dont know if you meant it to be that way, but there's this sense of melancholy to this one...the kind associated with a love long lost!
loved the illustration as well.
I did mean it that way, but tried to keep the melancholy subtle... tried to express a melancholy that turns to bitterness for no good reason.
Loved it, as always..especially the last stanza where I could visualise the cherry tree as being a villain in the whole story!
The ability to express with subtleness is a true gift. Very well written.
Sujaan, your illustrations take my breath away, i scrolled up and down the page 4 times, unable to focus on the writing :(
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