A Walk amongst the Cherry Blossoms

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Author: by Tepet Tilis Shogo

Description: Anthology of some fifty short poems, nominally inspired by various flowers and plants during a garden stroll, but viewed by many Dynasts as a political allegory condemning Dynastic politics. Intimately connected with the underground Ishin Shishi movement. Possession of a copy can alone lead to difficulty with senior Dynasts and the Deliberative, sometimes even inquiries by House-leaning magistrates.


Contents:

The rose stands tall amongst the lesser blossoms.

Dew on each red petal glistening with the fiery glow of sunset,

As they did in dawn’s light, so long ago.

While, unseen in the shadows of her leaves,

Sharp thorns await for those who come too close.

---

The blossom of the cherry tree

Burst forth, the first after the snow

Vanguard of a new floral charge

They arrive as one

Rest briefly on the branches, side by side

Their perfect form and symmetry displayed

For only the shortest blinking of an eye

Before they fall and vanish on the breeze

Their beauty saved, unfaded

More noble than those flowers who longer stay.

---

With too few plum blossoms,

None will come into the garden.

But with too many,

Their strength of scent

Will distract from the view.


---

The oak

Stands proud and tall

Firm and unbending through the wind and rain

Its roots holding tight the fertile soil.


---

The willow

Bent low by the water’s edge

Contemplating its reflection in the stream

Roots shifting with the flood along the bank.

---

The maple

Bursts forth its leaves, a fiery display

A herald of approaching end

And, through the cycle, new beginnings.


---

The pine

Needles thick and green all through the year

Remembrance of growth that was

And that will come again.


---

The ash

Growing thin and tall

Branches reaching up towards the sky

Alone with the caress of the wind.

---

Too long we tend the garden

By picking out the lilies.

Why not place them here, in ordered rows?

Their beauty bringing glory to the garden

While our attentions turn to proper weeding.


---

Without the beauty of the crimson rose

None come to tend the tranquil garden.

Once-ordered beds of peonies

Spill out in disarray

While o’er the crumbling garden wall

Come creeping weeds

And the first black taint of blight.

---

The peony

Whose leaves expand

To take the sunlight from its fellows

Will soon choke the whole garden

Worse than any weed.

---

A single violet

Alone amongst the vast fields of wildflowers

Shall it be forgotten?

Or, shall its uniqueness there

Bring it even greater attentions?

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