Fox Footprints/Moon Over Japan
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Moon Over Japan
Moon over Japan
White butterfly moon. . . .
The waters wash against the sacred islands
Where steps lead down to the sea,
Where neither death nor birth is permitted,
Where the heavy-lidded Buddhas dream
To the sound of the cuckoos' call.
The whitened mists lie adrift among the pine trees
And steal the color from the bright-leaved maples
On the mountains where the deer pasture and the monkeys sleep among the branches;
And in the villages
The houses are powdered with mother-of-pearl
And the white wings of moon butterflies
Flicker down the streets
Brushing into darkness the useless round lanterns in the hands of girls.
White butterfly moon. . . .
The waters wash against the sacred islands
Where steps lead down to the sea,
Where neither death nor birth is permitted,
Where the heavy-lidded Buddhas dream
To the sound of the cuckoos' call.
The whitened mists lie adrift among the pine trees
And steal the color from the bright-leaved maples
On the mountains where the deer pasture and the monkeys sleep among the branches;
And in the villages
The houses are powdered with mother-of-pearl
And the white wings of moon butterflies
Flicker down the streets
Brushing into darkness the useless round lanterns in the hands of girls.