12TH MOON, 14TH SUN: A LIGHT SNOW FELL OVERNIGHT, SO I SET OUT EARLY FOR SOUTH CREEK, STOPPED FOR A QUICK MEAL AND ARRIVED LATE

Snowfall at South Creek: it’s the most priceless of things,

so I set out to see it before it melts. Hurrying my horse,

pushing through thickets alone, I watch for footprints,

and at dawn, I’m first across fresh snow on a red bridge!

Houses in shambles beyond belief, nowhere even to sleep:

it’s a village of starvation, voices mere murmurs. I gaze.

Only the evening crows know my thoughts, startled into

flight, a thousand flakes tumbling through cold branches.