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Washington
looking for cherry blossoms
bumper to bumper
- Stefan Waanders of the Netherlands while visiting Washington, D.C. ()
The first line of the haiku establishes the location of the viewer who, in
this case, is a tourist from the Netherlands. The second line establishes that
the time of year is spring and that the poet is in search for something that
is probably not available in his own country. The third line gives us a clue
to what the poet found in his travel. First, "bumper to bumper" indicates that
the cherry trees are in a line, probably parallel to a walkway or a boulevard,
and since the trees are in bloom, the bush of the trees are probably touching
other trees. Second, "bumper to bumper" is a metaphor to the traffic and congestion
that the poet probably experienced in Washington, D.C. There is a contrast between
these two discoveries, the former, joy and beauty, the latter, disappointment.
The cherry blossoms in this poem symbolize a person's search for something new
and beautiful; they also provide a contrast to disappointment.
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