O cherry blossoms,
 
your fragrance guides my footsteps
 
in the pilgrim way.

 
 

Late-summer heatwave—
 
I long for cooler weather
 
and cherry blossoms.

 
 

Cherry blossoms fade—
 
I hear Sister Lizard call:
 
“Come to where I dwell.”

 
 

With great reverence
 
pilgrims bless each fragrant one—
 
the cherry blossoms.

 
 

cherry blossoms fade—
 
blank pages in my passport
 
waiting to be stamped

 
 

The cherry blossoms,
 
having no more songs to sing,
 
mutely leave the tree.

 
 

Withered and fallen,
 
no more do cherry blossoms
 
sing their fragrant songs.

 
 

To master silence,
 
sit beneath the cherry tree
 
during blossom time.

 
 

The longest journey
 
begins with the first small step
 
toward cherry blossoms.

 
 

Had April not come,
 
I would have missed the fragrance
 
of cherry blossoms.