Embodiment of Spring

inspired by Korean poetry in translation. 


My voice exists in an empty space---

maybe the small, tight gap between

your windowsill and clear glass,

has become a mirror of my reality 

Sorrowfully, I sing my anthems to your soul

though you have become deaf

to my tiny voice,
while your mouth spills crashing waves

What life would I live, if I had 

seen you as you have seen me---

another body in a room of forms,

another skeleton, enveloped with fat

Your milk-colored ribs in the yellow light

are a pattern embossed

on your thin white shirt,

your flesh has its own name, you know, 

And the skin of your fingers and calves

coats your body in the sunlight

of twenty summers, before you hide

in the pale colors of spring 

Entering your window at evening

is the sweet smell of late May

and the lovely death 

of the flowers I once left at your feet

I have walked the same path

within my mind, thousands of nights

and I always return to this
meandering garden of the Spring

Whose breezes caress your sweet neck---I confess,
you have too long entertained

my foolish eyes, while my lips praise

your beauty and charms without end.