a draft

The ume is the richest blossom
magenta-pink, clustered white
ignored because it comes too soon
the premature eruption
of clumps of color before Spring
in the last gasping spasms
of winter.

The ume is a twisted tree,
stunted spinster, gnarled branches
overlooked in favor of the slender,
taller, nostalgic sister
Sakura; more often seen alone,
unleaved when flowers crust
yearning limbs.

The ume is a potent fruit
supple green, succulent
pickled more than picked, enclosed
instead of chosen--
even wrongly named, as if prunes
outclassed an apricot, brown liquer
called plum wine.