Jianqing Zheng

Moonplay

Tired of sitting on the deck watching the new moon bobbing in the dark pond and hearing frogs croaking against the quiet night, the man plops into water to startle the moon into a fluttering bird, but it rocks away like an origami boat. Then he flails the water, intending to turn it over; it slithers away like a silverfish. After moonplay, the man rolls over to backstroke and float like a log on the moonlit ripples sparkling like fish-scales. Now the moon shines like a paper lantern in a weeping willow; the man dog-paddles to the shore.

rippling moonlight
a kajika frog's croak
louder and louder