Stealing Japanese poetry
requires great skill,
almost Ninja-like stealth,

especially at night
when there are so many poets
out viewing the moon

and, in Winter, the snow.
But it’s best not to do it then
because your tracks

can easily be traced
back to the scene of the crime.
In Spring there’s not enough leaves

to hide behind. But if you wait until Summer,
when trees are fat and thick with green,
then it will be hard to see

the moon when it first rises.
And always be careful in Autumn—
the haunting sound of fallen leaves

underfoot at night may give you away.
But maybe you shouldn’t take
that which will never belong to you

until you learn how to give away
what you never had, what even
the Japanese poets don’t really own.

Just like the moon who borrows its light,
a little borrowing from time to time
will be fine, I imagine, as long as we see

………….Snow everywhere now.
……….So much that even the moon
……..knows where to find it.