Is this what the sleeping cherry expected
when she beheld the shadows of late winter?
Very unlike what the groundhog predicted
March would be made of wind and water.

The vernal equinox, in silent accord
with the straining ocean and the waxing moon,
wished that Nippon was farther westward
beyond the reach of the waiting dawn.

The hungry moon spied the gentle coast.
In a fit of envy their ill will gave birth
to a tumult that drown the happy and holy
and left their bones upon the earth.

Even the elements roared in clouds
above the concrete and man-made stars
saying, “Surely we are not being too loud.
Besides, this island has long been ours.”

Japan’s sons and daughters will rise with the sun
when the cherry blossom and the Spring are one.