Two Flowers of Spring

She was the former flower known of spring;

the ephemeral blossom of the plum

whose fragrance fell before the scheming fang

of winter's war against its own requiem.

T'was raining blood the night she greeted him

and by the same she made her last goodbye.

She loved him: her cross ne'er to condemn –

forgiven guilt was what she meant to say.

It seemed a decade ere that frost could thaw;

a different bloom to welcome spring's full blush

whose warmth is answer to redemption's call.

Her cherry print is what the pilgrim saw

when sets his face to find his spirit's hush

and bids him to release the plum-scent shawl.

Note from Lady Rurouni:

This is an Italian sonnet, written according to abab cdcd efg efg rhyme scheme. However, note that my quatrains are written using half-rhymes and only in my sestet is full rhyme ultilised (as well as the change in tenses). In addition, I have indeed modified the rhythm for line 7. All these are deliberate.

I think the metaphors (and direct inferences) ultilised are pretty obvious. Yukishiro Tomoe is the plum blossom and Kamiya Kaoru is the cherry. The allusion is found in the canon work. Tomoe is identified by the plum blossom perfume. Kaoru's kimono has cherry blossom prints.

Both flowers bloom in spring, but the plum before the cherry. Allegorically, both share the significance of "new life", an extension from the typical motif of spring. The cherry blossom is more prominent as the symbol of the season by virtue of its place as the national flower of Japan. Yet, this is also apt as a parallel to the respective place Tomoe and Kaoru each occupies in Himura Kenshin's life.

Extrapolate: both women are turning points in Kenshin's search for redemption. Both are his "spring".

I hope you like it! Criticism is welcomed!