Fox Footprints/Moon Over Japan
Moon Over Japan
Moon over JapanWhite butterfly moon. . . .The waters wash against the sacred islandsWhere steps lead down to the sea,Where neither death nor birth is permitted,Where the heavy-lidded Buddhas dreamTo the sound of the cuckoos' call.The whitened mists lie adrift among the pine treesAnd steal the color from the bright-leaved maplesOn the mountains where the deer pasture and the monkeys sleep among the branches;And in the villagesThe houses are powdered with mother-of-pearlAnd the white wings of moon butterfliesFlicker down the streetsBrushing into darkness the useless round lanterns in the hands of girls.