The poor fisherman frees
a crane caught in his net
Tsuru, the crane, becomes
a beautiful woman
She goes home with him
spins silk and sings to him
She only asks that he
not look at her while she sleeps
For a time, they are happy
but he is curious
You know how it goes
He looks, she flies away
But would we close our eyes
and sleep with the secret
Don’t we all want to learn
who we share our dreams with
to smooth the silken feathers
from her sleeping face