{"id":60716,"date":"2017-05-02T02:19:30","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T06:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/?p=60716"},"modified":"2017-05-01T20:23:54","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T00:23:54","slug":"cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every spring\u00a0when the cherry trees on our corner of Harlem are in blossom, we marvel, not just at the riot of pink but at one particular tree. Unlike other cherry trees right nearby that\u00a0are uniformly shaped, this one is lopsided.\u00a0The branches on the north side seem to reach out over the sidewalk, almost double the length of the branches on its south side. The arching branches provide shade to the local guys who, for years, have set up tables under it to play dominos and cards, while they listen to Motown from a portable player, for hours on end.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sally Schneider<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What makes the tree grow that way? It can’t be reaching toward sun nor water; the conditions of the nearby trees are similar.<\/p>\n

Locals speculate that the trees grown in response to the people who hangout under it, their music and talk and joy in the wild magic of the street. One woman said “It protects the men.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

These ancient haiku apply seem to have been written for them:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

What a strange thing!<\/em><\/strong>
\nto be alive<\/em><\/strong>
\nbeneath cherry blossoms<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2026…<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

In the cherry blossom\u2019s shade<\/em><\/strong>
\nthere\u2019s no such thing<\/em><\/strong>
\nas a stranger<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

…though the guys play Motown, which we love….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Haiku by\u00a0Kobayashi Issa<\/a> (18th C); Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every spring when the cherry trees on our corner of Harlem are in blossom, we marvel, not just at the riot of pink but at one particular tree and the life that goes on under it.<\/p>\nRead More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":60717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6549,59,6329],"tags":[10646,10647,10648,5900,7728,10649],"yoast_head":"\nCherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown) - Improvised Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every spring when the cherry trees on our corner of Harlem are in blossom, we marvel, not just at the riot of pink but at one particular tree and the life that goes on under it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown) - Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every spring when the cherry trees on our corner of Harlem are in blossom, we marvel, not just at the riot of pink but at one particular tree and the life that goes on under it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improvised Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theimprovisedlife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-02T06:19:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-02T00:23:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cherry-tree-guys-harlem-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"724\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@improvised_life\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Schneider\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sally Schneider\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2fa7e3722002ee0c5ff9fde7a0753bc4\"},\"headline\":\"Cherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown)\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-02T06:19:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-02T00:23:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"blossoms\",\"Dancin in the Street\",\"dominoes\",\"improvise\",\"Issa\",\"streetlife\"],\"articleSection\":[\"mindset\",\"nature\",\"poems\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/improvisedlife.com\/2017\/05\/02\/cherry-tree-whose-branches-reach-out-to-protect-with-haiku-motown\/\",\"name\":\"Cherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown) - 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