The Sakura in High Park website predicts that cool weather in early April means that the first cherry blossoms won’t appear in Toronto until the end of April or possibly early May. To preserve these trees and ensure that they will continue to bloom in High Park in the future, the website advises people not to climb, sit, or stand on branches and not to pick or break off blossoms.
Cathy Xinman is a Canadian poet who looks forward to the arrival of cherry blossoms. Below, you can read a passionate poem of hers inspired by the blooming trees.
I Ache, the Cherry Blossoms Have Bloomed
I can’t stop you from blooming,
I can’t extinguish the flames of time.
You can’t stop my heart from aching—
Your colors rise and fall within me again.
You’d better not let me see,
Just after last night has passed—
The cherry blossoms are blooming.
I can’t extinguish the burning of time.
You left me no wounds.
Pain lingers in the sky—so intricate, so vast.
Time, you can’t share my sorrow.
You are neither flustered nor sad.
You cannot escape the silent passion
Of a spring afternoon.
My suffering burns, impossible to hide.
I wonder—who else would understand?
My pain is bigger than the sky.
I pray it reaches the heavens.
Before the wind carries you away,
I can’t help but walk toward longing.
Stop—let ripeness remain unfinished,
Let yearning remain incomplete
I do not know who else, like me,
Hears the silence of the rush.
You can’t resist the flames
Of a spring afternoon,
Or the unshakable entanglement.
In this whole universe,
It seems I alone offer a quiet prayer
I alone ache —
And that saddens me.
I have learned the music of time.
Cathy Xinman writes poetry in Chinese and English. Her English-language collection is entitled Where You Love Yourself. Find it on Amazon. Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
