To My Cherry Blossom

From old Japan beyond the sea A fairy vision beckons me, A vale where cool the shadows rest From Fujiyama’s towering crest, A ruined temple’s crumbling wall Lulled by a drowsy waterfall, A shrine in whose corroding bell Faint murmurs, long forgotten, dwell, And Buddha, brooding day by day Dreams the slow centuries away In old Japan. There might the careworn find release In calm Nirvana’s perfect peace. There might the traveler inhale The haunting sweetness of that vale, An incense from the flowery gloom Where clustering cherry blossoms bloom In petaled purity that glows Like Fujiyama’s drifting snows; The fragrance of a far off clime From some remote, forgotten time In old Japan. There might I roam in fancy free That Orient vale beyond the sea, By Nippon’s shores an Eden seek Neath Fujiyama’s storied peak. But here, - where happier far, I’d be A CHERRY BLOSSOM blooms for me. I glimpse within her starry eyes A nearer view of Paradise, My Shrine and Eden is our home, Nor need my wandering fancy roam To old Japan.