In the cherry blossom’s shade
there’s no such thing
as a stranger.
by Kobayashi Issa
(1763 – 1828)
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger
In Japanese Zen poetry, spring blossoms, particularly cherry blossoms, are often used as symbols for the simple, natural, unfolding springtime of enlightenment. Understanding this, the rest of the poem opens up. In the “shade” or, you might say, beneath the canopy of enlightenment, there is no longer any sense of separation. Nothing and no one is foreign to you. There is no such thing as a stranger.
