Song
—A poem composed in 28 A.D. Korea
When my dead mother comes to me
and asks me to lend her my shoes
I take off my shoes.
When my dead mother comes to me
and asks me to hold her up, for she has no feet
I take off my feet.
When my dead mother comes to me
and asks me to lend her, lend her
I even rip out my heart.
In the sky, mountains rise, trails rise.
At a place where there is no one
two round moons ascend.
.
translated from Korean by Don Mee Choi
from Arts & Letters, Fall 2000