By the time I reached, The Cherry blossom festive was already on,

A narrow aisle led to the crowd.

The brightly lit Cherry trees nestled around the blue Tidal Basin.

Under clear sky, the boaters paddled across.

The sun streaked through the trees sparkling water waves.

The airplane had just flown over.

Nearby, kids flew kites, tiny blue umbrellas over their heads.

I felt the strong wind blowing as I sat under the tree smelling the flowers.

Pink and white petals flew in the air and fell all over.

I collected the petals and placed them on my daughter’s cupped hands.

“Look at that,” my daughter said, a smile spreading across her face, as she stood by a hanging Cherry branch, posing for a pic.

She had a Cherry hair flower pinned into her hair.

Taking selfies, I walked along.

I squeezed past to the other side and watched the lively concert from the side stage.

This year, the Cherry blossom was not nearly as beautiful as in the last year.

The buffeting April winds had blown the young petals off the trees soon after they started blossoming the other day. The ground had turned into multicolored pulp.