“I spend most of the winter hoping for signs of spring. These are few and far between in Montreal. While I am receiving emails from the West Coast filled with cherry blossoms, I am usually still shovelling snow.
One night, I was attending a play in-the-round, which meant that there was no backstage so that we could watch the actors changing costumes. I was struck by the fact that this didn’t in any way spoil the illusion. If an actor switched hats before my eyes and became another character, I accepted it.
This is very much like watching a magician. We know those birds are up his sleeves or hidden in his long coat, but that doesn’t diminish our excitement the minute that they appear and fly around the stage.
The arrival of spring is also like this. We know it’s coming, it comes every year, and we see the signs in advance , but there is nothing more magical than that first true day of spring.”
waiting for the blossoms
the birds are still
up the magician’s sleeve
– Marco Fraticelli
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational 2013 Best Canadian poem
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