Making a Young Pine Shriek Again

To celebrate the coming Year of the Rabbit, I arranged seven branches of Young Pine the other day. The Japanese call this tree wakamatsu.

Of the various branches I have had the privilege to bend and twist into shape over my years of Ikebana practice, none has pleased me more than the Young Pine. I have come to realize, more with each passing year, how similar to the skin of a lascivious lover its supple wood feels under my hands.

And yet, to achieve the criteria of kakubana, I can never be as gentle with these poor pines as I would be with a woman. So here I stand, my busy hands condemned to make forever girls moan, but the wakamatsu shriek.

If you were wondering, kakubana is one of the fixed forms of flower arrangement practiced in the Mishoryu School.

May the Year of the Rabbit bless you all with much happiness.