Unfolding Bud

One is amazed
By a water-lily bud
Unfolding
With each passing day,
Taking a richer color
And new dimensions
One is not amazed,
At a first glance,
By a poem,
Which is as tight-closed
As a tiny bud.
Yet one is surprised
To see the poem
Gradually unfolding,
Revealing its rich inner self
As one reads it
Again
And over again.

Naoshi Koriyama uses a central metaphor in his peom to compare peorty to a budding flower. Much like a growing plant, peotry developes its beauty gradually. Koriyama refers to a peom's initial impression as ordinary and reserved. He describes:

"One is not amazed,
At a first glance,
By a poem,
Which is as tight-closed
As a tiny bud" (7-11)

Through this comparison, the reader is shown how a peom starts out with a hidden message inside, waiting to blosom and reveal itself. The connotation used by Koriyama reminds the reader that a "tiny bud" (11) is how a beautiful masterpiece begins, and one must be patient during the early stages of a poem until its true meaning is discovered.

Koriyama further illustrates the transformation from bud to blossomwhen he writes:

"One is amazed
By a water-lily bud
Unfolding
With each passing day,
Taking on a richer color
And new dimensions" (1-6)

Through these vivid words the reader is able to see how a flower is transformed to be magnificiant and beautiful. One can also see that this metamorphisis does not occur overnight, but rather it takes time to fully run its course. Just as Koriyama describes a plant as "Taking on richer color" (5), he later refers to a poem as "Revealing its rich inner self" (15). His diction convinces the reader of their similarities since they both develope a fuller beauty and meaning as time goes on. Through these comparisons, Koriyama shows the audience that to discover the true meaning of a peom, one must be patient and wait for its beauty to bloom.