There are few blossoms in the city yet,
save a misty cerise-tinged sunset;
one can only imagine a haze
of cherry flowers pinking up the sky-
line and defining sooty silhouettes.
Who am I to criticise a city dweller
who climbs high enough in the April sky
to search far and wide for the distant aroma
of trees blooming in the countryside?
Kim M. Russell, 10th April 2024
Over at What’s Going On? Sumana is our host with an April prompt. She asks how the month of April is where we are; is it a spring month or an autumn month? She would like to know how it looks, smells and sounds, or if we have any memories that make April special.
Sumana has shared two poems to inspire us: ‘April’ by Alicia Ostriker and ‘Onset’ by Kim Addonizio.
I have resurrected one of my poems, which was originally published by Visual Verse in 2018, and reworked it a little.
Beautiful, Kim, and I love your photos, too.
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Thanks so much, Sherry. The cherry blossom is deep pink and blowsy while the apple blossom is prim and delicate.
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Love how a city dweller might imagine an April sunset-sky as ‘a haze of cherry flowers pinking’ it up while missing ‘the distant aroma of trees blooming in the countryside’. A very visual poem.
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Thank you so much, Sumana!
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Beautifully down the line – cherry flowers pinking up the sky- really made my day. This captures it all, lovely poem.
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Thank you very much, Alan!
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This is a glorious short poem, so sensual and evocative. I love it.
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Thanks so much, Shay!
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“one can only imagine”
Its hard to know what memories city dwellers have in their hearts. I try not to judge but I have a little pity for those with no images at all.
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I think many of them couldn’t identify a tree or its blossoms if it jumped out and shook its branches at them. They are too busy with money and material things.
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I wouldn’t blame a city dweller at all…but, on the other hand, they should be able to find bits of spring in their backyards (at least soon)or be able to drive a short distance! I loved the photos and how the poem flowed!
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Thank you, Mary!
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I work in the city then back home to the country…looking for blossoms and poems.
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Believe it or not, our streets are lined with blossoming trees. Flowers actually grow here, and grass too. Birds are nesting and singing away. Dogs and children’s voices everywhere. The mailman catches my eye and waves to me, as he enters a nearby building to delivers the mail. He smiles! I pass people I know on the street and stop to chat. Amazing. (K)
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A wonderful place to be, Kerfe. All towns and cities should be like that.
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Sorry for being cranky–your words just felt like a backhanded swipe at cities, which is so common and accepted, although (at least here in the US) you are not allowed to be critical of rural areas or their residents at all. Every place has good and bad points; and hopefully we all get to choose to live in the places that suit us best.
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Not cranky, Kerfe, and I get it. Norwich and York, two cities I love, are beautiful and full of blossom.
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As a city dweller… I think since there are tabebuias and jacarandas and gulmohars blooming all along our roads too,… while the call of the green landscape is powerful, I still can never leave the city… 🙂 But I did travel thousands of miles to see cherry blossoms in season, once!!
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I love the sound of all that blooming in your city, Rajani, especially the jacarandas. Most cities have green spaces where trees blossom but, sadly, most people who work in cities don’t have the time to stop, look and wonder.
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True a lot of people work crazy hours and commutes are horrible but this city is full of bird watchers and nature walkers and star gazers and poets too.. 😀 😍
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Love it!
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I remember this one, Kim, it stays quickened in the memory, the notion of the yearning city dweller and the imagery so outstanding.
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Thank you very much, Dora!
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You’re most welcome!
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So beautiful…May we all climb if necessary to see the colors of April.
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Thank you, Susie.
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