"At sunset the Jialing River flows east

and thousands of pear petals chase the river wind.

What twists my stomach as I watch the river flowers?

Half have fallen in the river, half drift on the air."  
—from Yuan Zhen, (779-831 Tang dynasty, northern China), "Petals Falling in the River," printed in The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry, Eds., Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, Anchor Books, 2005, p.190