Three sisters reach skyward

With their gray-brown branches

On this spring-like winter day.

Their pale green, fuzzy buds burst forth,

Fuchsia and ivory revealed.

Their nearly leafless branches

Dance in the warm wind.

The fragrant, leathery blossoms

Fill the air with hints of April.

Swaying limbs shed colorful petals,

Brightening the lifeless ground,

Strewn among the brown oak leaves

And dormant grass blades.

Winter rain clouds hang overhead

And icy raindrops fall upon the petals

Of these three sisters,

Who sit among man-made hills.

Mokuren means “magnoliaâ€