there
once more
not finished
yet
Month: January 2018
“Trouble… meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms”
from Douglas Moore’s blog Art of Quotation
“Trouble… meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms”
Confessions (참회록) by Yun Dong-ju (윤동주)
another translation from the Korean by Geul on the blog Cardiac Slaves of the Stars
(translated from the Korean by geul)
Of what dynasty
could the tarnished green copper mirror be a relic
that my face lingering within it
brings on such disgrace
*
Let’s reduce the confession to a single line.
— Twenty four years and one month
for what happiness have I lived?
*
Tomorrow or the day after or on any joyful day
I have to write another line of my confessions.
— Then, at that young age
why did I make such a shameful confession?
*
Each night let’s clean the mirror
with the palm of my hand, with the sole of my foot.
*
Then the back of a sad person
walking alone under some shooting star
appears in the mirror.
the midnight of our lives
unfinished business
lies between us
a book
half read
a meal
interrupted
a bed
unmade
words stuck
in the midnight
of our lives
the ubiquitous selfie
it’s the smile really
that lingers
in the mind
at whom is it directed
basking in its own glow
forever anchored
in the center
of its universe
faces oh faces
I see faces
more often than not
in other faces
it is as if
the people I know/knew
are here in people I pass
on the street in the market on the metro
these constant reminders
of who filtered through my life
could be disconcerting
if I wasn’t so used to it
there’s Alex reading a book
oh and Carl in the corner
staring out at sea
and Kathy on the bus
sitting next to the old man
who looks a bit like Albert
and there’s Vic
talking to that girl
whose name you can’t quite remember
Marion or Madeline
or something like that
the one who lived up the coast
from you in Malibu
who fell asleep
on the floor
at that reunion
at Joan Barnett’s
when Billy was showing us all
he could be sensitive
and that one there
she looks like that assistant producer
who took you for drinks
at the Brown Derby
something Kessler
her father was a poet
read at the bookstore
and who’s that there
in the grocery store
oops, not her
look away
too much memory there
too much for one day
faces oh faces
staring back at me
and time
is in present continuous
just like you hoped
it wouldn’t be
“If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you’re not going to be able to govern them…”
from Douglas Moore’s blog Art of Quotation
“If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you’re not going to be able to govern them. You won’t be able to unite them later, if that’s how you start.”
— Barack Obama
always there
I see you
even when
I don’t see you
eyes open closed
awake asleep
you
always
there
The Descent of Blossoms by Zhu Shu Zhen 落花。 朱淑貞 (translation)
another translation from the Chinese by Mary Tang on her blog Life is But This
toward her
she stands
at the center
of the world
arms outstretched
head tilted back
that neck exposed
a smile with the joy
of childhood
and I
at the edge
look inward
eyes drawn irresistibly
toward her
Leonard Durso 