I decided to plant these Hibaku seeds because of how the survivor trees bloomed the following Spring after the A-bombing. To me, it was a deeply moving testimony of life after death, resurrection hope after destruction. It is the power of Nature and life to push back death, in defiance of the prediction of scientists.
I am a womb twin survivor; and I remember keeping the seeds for months after it arrived. Waiting. Until the morning of my birthday and what would have also been hers, I planted the seeds into the womb of a single pot. I told myself it would be a sign to me - whether the seeds will overcome the odds and bloom.
Miraculously, two seedlings popped up. Just like me and my twin. I re-potted and transplanted my seedlings into separate pots while they were a little bigger. Every day I watered them and blessed them to grow up well.
To me, the two plants are a living parable and re-enactment of the miracle of life and resurrection hope. There is always such a seed in all of us - waiting to burst forth.
May the present rewrite the past anew. I have seen the end from the beginning, and it has pulled me into the future.
Rumi: The Eternal Idea
You may seem to be the microcosm;
In fact, you are the macrocosm.
The branch might seem like the fruit's origin:
In fact, the branch exists because of the fruit.
Would the gardener have planted the tree at all
Without a desire and hope for fruit?
That's why the tree is really born from the fruit
Even if it seems the fruit is created by the tree.
The idea which comes first comes last in realization—
Particularly that idea which is eternal.
In fact, you are the macrocosm.
The branch might seem like the fruit's origin:
In fact, the branch exists because of the fruit.
Would the gardener have planted the tree at all
Without a desire and hope for fruit?
That's why the tree is really born from the fruit
Even if it seems the fruit is created by the tree.
The idea which comes first comes last in realization—
Particularly that idea which is eternal.
Chu Qiao
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