From The Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson, translated by W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento. The selection includes a full thirty or so on cherry blossoms, a few of which I give in honor of the approaching season.
178
Cherry petals float down behind him
Landing on
A monk’s heavy knapsack
186
A storm of cherry blossoms settles
On a raft pilot’s straw rain cape
A robe of flowers from Arashiyama
187
Courtesans come out
To see the cherry blossoms
As though they were betting on their next life
189
I’ve come here to see the flowers
And I nod off among the cherry blossoms
Sleepy for a moment
Extracts 