Sakura,

Clad in a dress of fragile pink and white

Blowing in the breeze to a thousand notes,

The hardest pitch to play; to sing.

An ephemeral, delightful movement of life’s song,

 First four minutes of a symphony half an hour long

Muted by the gardener, cut short by fertilizers:

 

Now Sakura trades her dress for a suit of bright cherry vermillion.

Mother Eden wept at her child’s price tag of a million.

With sunglasses and red lipstick and those heels too high

Checking her reflection before every stride

Now Sakura’s forgotten how to enjoy her life.

 

Dress been sold to the highest bidder

Traded for a mansion and a hall of mirrors

Yeah she’s buying shiny cars to fill up the garage

She’s got the mortgage and the keys

and she’s shooting for five stars.

Living her life for this American dream

Any red blooded Yankee would swear her in as queen!

 

Perfection infection needs a correction—

a cessation of striving for this false satisfaction.

Dream’s a euphemism, hear—

we’ve got to take some action!

 

Now, let’s take a walk on the dark side of Sakura.

Maybe she’s using spyware or stealing ID with a hacker

If she’s got an IOU or if she wants a few more smackers.

Adult responsibilities are giving her the willies

Although in glorious childhood she thought they were all silly.

She’s doing knee bends to get in on that skinny

Just striving to be the ideal beauty.

Her busy work sees no end

Without a second for friends.

 

Well if Sakura’s a cherry it won’t mean she can’t be sweet

Rather than tart and under ripe like a bird who’s lost its tweet.

The math to adding another year

Is baking a cake with another tier

Still that tasty pastry except it’s big enough for Cake Boss

No need to ditch that favorite jam for highfalutin mint sauce.

 

There’s no need to climb much farther; the top will topple soon

Can’t make it to the stars? You’ll be happy with the moon.

When the gamers go climbing the societal ladder

They’re still worth no more than a poisonous adder

The rungs are all companions used and abused

‘Cause to a player, they’re just pawns on a chessboard confused.

A knight with his rhino and his floor-length speculum

Only aggravates a damsel’s insatiable tantalum.

 

So, Sakura, this isn’t funny

No you don’t need more money

Cherry girl, forget the bling

You’ll live without ten-K gold rings

Just helps block out what’s truly sunny—

Life is bigger than a king.