two kindly faces
tote potent anesthesia
drifting off to sleep
——————–
Yesterday I had surgey to correct an imbalance in my eye muscles; it was my first time experiencing general anesthesia.
한국전통 인형극/Traditional Korean Marionette Show
A traditional Korean marionette show in Chilgok, South Korea.
Cinquain/XLIV
Abbot
Owens owns a
teeny tan tame rabbit;
how pleasant to have an ally
so nigh!
——————–
Try and say the first three lines five times fast! 😉 I come out with “teeny tam tame” or “teeny tan tane” almost every time.
Dark Hour
37 strings
2 hands
Loneliness slips through these faded floorboards.
I hope that it never comes back.
Somehow your Mother Maybelle voice seeps into the
room and then into my skin.
You sing an old tune – one that is close to your
heart and one that you tried to teach me many
times but that I never quite learned.
Perhaps I shall plant roses and lilies come springtime.
Would you like that?
Home Away From….
An elderly woman sits in the lobby of Canon Kip Community House in San Francisco.
(2010)
Flowers of a Moment: Poem 145
첫 빗방울
툭 떨어지며 후박나무 잎사귀
깨어난다
이어서
이 잎사귀도
저 잎사귀도
-고은
when the first raindrops fall
silver magnolia leaves awaken
one at a time
this leaf
and that leaf too
-Ko Un
———————————–
This is poem 145 from Flowers of a Moment, which is a small volume of poetry by Korean author Ko Un that I am currently translating into English.
Waiting for Winter
A man in Daegu, South Korea looks on at fallen leaves.
(2012)
untitled
The leaves are falling quickly now
in hues of royal gold
and as I dream beneath this bough
my naked nose turns cold.
Tea Time Talk (after Ko Un)
Last night I dreamt the dangling from the
Manhattan Bridge dream – I was Bill De Blasio
What kind of dream did you dream?
Goodbye Betsy Brown
Red and white gingham quivers in the twilight
breeze as two tired legs mosey beside surly steel.
We are surrounded by this rosy sky
and those noble rolling green hills.
This valley is a paradise to me,
but to you – a provincial prison.
You shiver – even though we are now shrouded
under ginger hued mantles – because you
accidentally abandoned your shawl on that wobbly
peg in your haste to catch the 6 o’clock train.
It’s not coming, is it?
sundry folly 