Category Archives: poetry

:::the disintegration of memory:::

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When my Mary was four years
old, she loved wearing a particular
red dress.  It had white and pink
butterflies embroidered on it.  She
wore that dress until it fell apart.
Grandma Elliot bought that dress
for her.

When my Mary was four, maybe
three, she loved wearing a particular
red dress.  She wore that dress
almost every day.  Grandma bought
that dress.

When my Mary was little, she loved
wearing a particular red dress.  She
sure did wear that dress a lot!

When my Mary was a girl, she loved
wearing a red dress.

My daughter loved wearing a red dress.

A long time ago, I knew a little girl who
wore a red dress.  I can’t remember
her name.

Flowers of a Moment: Poem 174

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길을 잃었다 가도 가도 그냥 모래뿐이었다
고비 사막이었다
반가워라
모래에 묻혔다 나온 백골

장차 내 백골 따위
어디쯤에서
뒷세상의 길이 될까

가슴이 두근두근 오아시스가 가까웠다

-고은

I was lost – an endless ocean of sand no matter where I went
the Gobi Desert
embrace it
buried in the sand – a skeleton appeared

soon it would be my skeleton like that
somewhere
possibly on the road to the next world

my heart pounded for an oasis was near

-Ko Un

—————

In December I gave the copy of Flowers of a Moment that I was translating as a thank-you gift to the kind woman who was my medical translator during the preoperative appointments for my eye muscle surgery.  She was also with me on the day of the surgery.  I will always be extremely grateful to her for all of her help.

Needless to say, for some strange reason, I never purchased a new copy of the book, so I was unable to finish the translation project.  This week I finally obtained a new copy and plan to finish the translation by the end of June.

:::nocturne for a rising body:::

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atop an ocean of sky-blue
feathers, I lay coiled like an
infant, fresh from mother’s
womb, fists clenched, ready to
strike, with tiny toes tucked
tightly in twos, impatiently
waiting to be told what to do
and who to become, all the
while listening intently for the
persistent yet loving whisper
that shall provoke my
shrouded eyes to open and
smile upon this vast universe

Racing the Darkness

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The hour of eight is almost nigh
and as I gaze up at the sky
the sun is sinking in the west,
to make space for our nightly guest.
But, when I set out for this day,
I brought no torch to light my way,
and so I journey with great haste,
for surely there’s no time to waste,
as feet march over mountainside
to reach green meadow, flat and wide.

neither/nor

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I am just a body,
framed neither by
light nor by darkness,
flowing through long
corridors with sweet
beasts of burden
while shouldering the
ashen narratives of
faces who have
already fallen.

I am merely a hand,
neither open nor
closed, beating
steadily against a taut
bolt of time, in spite
of myself, trying to
keep pace with the
all-embracing rhythm,
which shall undoubtedly
break me in the end.