Piece Three: Sour Cherries

The cycle of life is like that of a cherry.
You spend the first years of your life trying to blossom.
It will take quite a while, but once you arrive,
Your beauty appears, lasting until your petals fall.
You may find that others may impede in,
but it will all be fine as long as you’re in Tokyo.

Sitting in your office in Tokyo,
A co-worker returns, carrying a box of cherries,
Their sweetness melting in
Your mouth, savored like a late blossom.
However, these sweet and plump cherries do not fall
From the same trees which blossoms arrive.

Rather these sweet cherries arrive
Far from the sakura of Tokyo.
It is from the Yamagata trees from which they fall.
A lacquered box of Sato Nishiki cherries
The taste of youth, of laughter, falling blossom,
Soft as every springtime blossom coming in.

You chase the moment of the blossom, in
The fleeting joy that comes when they arrive,
Before the soft light begins its slow falling blossom
Down the alleys and avenues of Tokyo.
You sip warm tea while the cherry
Petals continue to fall.

And as they continue to fall,
The next season comes in,
And in place of the bright cherry
Blossoms, the green in summer arrives,
Yet it is not its prettiest season in Tokyo,
As that is when the heat blossoms.

And as soon as you realize this blossom,
Even the green leaves begin to fall,
As the cold winter seizes Tokyo.
And the snow comes in,
Bright lights, sponge cakes, and KFC’s arrival.
While everyone forgets its once beloved cherries.

Though soon, the tides change and it blossom
Once again, with its petals falling
For the next few weeks therein.