The Last Blossoms

I took this picture at Shin-Osaka Station this morning. I was in Osaka for a meeting, in a part of northern Osaka called Ibaraki, one station north of Shin-Osaka by Rapid Express.

Here's a street in Ibaraki from an elevated platform.

The meeting involved a whole room full of foreign English teachers like myself. It was strange being in a room with so many native English speakers. The majority of the teachers seem to be either Australian or Filipino but there were a few Brits and Yanks. There were also a few whose first language isn't English. Japan is even more desperate for English teachers now due to Covid.

The cherry blossoms are famously short lived. I noticed some trees were already starting to turn green when I left.

Twitter Sonnet #1569

The easy eyes were rolling tens or twelves.
We counted more than cash to crack the scales.
The heavy tree was thick with Keebler Elves.
The violent sea was choked with screaming whales.
With heavy hair the climber gripped the snow.
From mountain heights connexions froze the frame.
Discussions turned around the things we know.
The wind and rain revealed a second name.
Dessert attacked before the dinner rose.
A field of cake was easy not for sweets.
A candy button pressed the guarded rows.
Assume the kitchen salts the larder meats.
Across the city, green consumes the pink.
The flames await beyond the falling brink.