My next-door neighbor,
a Chinese guy from Hong Kong,
sweeps, whenever he reaches for his broom,
first my doorstep,
and then his own.
He doesn't know our saying
"Sweep in front of your own door first."
I do know. But lately
I've given it up, and sweep,
whenever I reach for my broom,
first the doorstep of my neighbor,
the Chinese guy from Hong Kong,
and only then my own.
So when he comes home after work
or I come home
our doorsteps are always clean
and the old rules have been swept away—
away with all that once kept us apart.

translated by Lane Jennings