Blijstaat

~

홍윤숙 also known as Hong Yun-suk
* 1925, Chongju, Pyonganbuk-do ~ Korea

 From: Selected Poems of Hong Yun-suk

Ways of Living 1

I am learning
how to sleep,
and how to open my eyes,
how to walk along,
how to look heavenward
a dozen times a day,

how to use a wad of cotton-wool
after a tooth extraction,
how to be ill, loosing
weight by the pound.
I am learning how to soak
my tongue in the salt of tears,

and how to say goodbye, waving hands
with needles stuck under
the nails of all ten fingers.
I am learning how to smile
with my eyes while biting my lips,
choking back the pent-up feelings

rising in my throat.
Wrapped in a thousand-league
river of bandages
though I am ready to burst,
I am learning how to die
a dozen times a day.

~*~

Sarah Chang ~ J.S. Bach - Air on the G String