Tuesday, December 14, 2010

For Sister




My whole life comes crashing down


to this one place


this one God


this one woman




I lived endless days


searching for a friend


and countless minutes


imitating a child




I was a woman


trapped in mindless laughter


hdden behind a mask


of innocence






Looking back


I should have known


How it will all turn out


what hours would seal my fate




It was here in this attic


Amidst tears and hope


that I knew my future




It was as clear to me


as if I were looking


through a clear stream


waters rushing over bear feet


As I thought, thought, thought


----about Nothing.




It was clarity


obstructed by madness


reflected in each dry,


tumbling autumn leaf.




I look upon her face


worn by worry and years


and see


yes, see her soul


I hurt for her sadness


and yet know not how to help.




She walks dressed all in black


a gray silk scarf tightly wrapped


around her weary neck


hair strictly pinned up


on her graying head...


she shows no emotion




Yet behind this fascade


of an old woman


two gleaming brown eyes


laugh back into mine


WIthin those eyes


hidden behind square bold glasses


I see a young frail girl


banging on a window


with both her fists


screaming to be freed.




And I watch on thinking...


I wish she could find that Hope


in that One she seeks




That the Kingdom of God may come


come quickly for us both


so we may stand hand in hand


free from the toil and repression


of this world and this institution


we call home


away high on a mountain top


happy and smiling and free


flying over the valleys


as light as silk


Both of us sisters for eternity.












Friday, July 9, 2010

Independence Day


The fear is tightening
like dead cold lifeless fingers
around my fragile neck.

A murmur of memories
flooding in like the endless sea
Boundless and murky
with no way out.

That fear...
It is so pressing sometimes
I freeze
Like an empty shell of a doll
my eyes glassy and unreal
With tears frozen beneath the lids.

Her father is dead today
While others celebrate independence
She is a prisoner.

The leaves crumple into nothing and fade
BANG BANG BANG
skies flood with light and sparks
With every bang her eyes squeeze out water

A rose trampled underfoot
The red roses he grew by the house.
Now nothing remains of that garden
No trace of him either...

Only her memory is fresh
I watch her in wonder and pity
Sitting across the table from me
Calmly sipping her tea
While the brown of her eyes fills with pain.

Pain...
More real and penetrating
than death itself.

It numbs my trembling heart
O Lord how can I help her?
O Lord what agony it would be to lose her
I cannot bear the hurt
Who will bandage her soul
when we part?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

At the window


A view
when life offers us none.

She sits at the window
gazing into the foggy mist
squinting to see
yet seeing nothing.

It was a long hot day
When she is restless for autumn
Longing for the breeze
and the smell of fresh rain.


Her hands tired and worn
From cleaning and washing
Dry and wrinkly
Just like her eyes.

She says a quiet prayer
gazing out
praying for silence and peace
While children rush in
screaming "Mommy, Mommy!"

I gaze at her and wonder
A young girl is trapped in those eyes
those eyes of an old woman

I look to the sky and pray
Pray for her to be free
to find that room with a view
To find a moment of peace

A moment to look out
at the rolling hills of Korea
A moment to breathe in
To take in all the beauty

A moment to surround herself
with comic books
with paints and brushes
with photographs

and take a moment
to look out the window
and remember
yes...remember the essence of life
Left behind.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Coffee heaven


Steam and cream
Five spoons of sugar
A smile floats onto my lips
I breathe in the chocolate scent
And know...this is home
This is truth

The cup is elegant
With its Victorian flower patterns
Lilies and roses climbing up the handle
The cream swirls
As my spoon twirls and twirls through it
Like the ballerinas performing on the Met stage
My grandma takes me to see often.

Her cup is blue porcelain
Hand-made
Within its depths of blue flowers
Two slanted eyes peak through
Eyes of laughter and yet bitter tears
Gaze at me as if in question


I close my own eyes and life rushes by
Like trains in a busy subway station
All the people huddling and nudging elbows
Frowns and smiles as the wheels clank on
Against the cold metal tracks
Yet when I open my eyes
I am back safe in this kitchen
No more madness of this world
No more trains
No more darkness.

The coffee's steam fills my mind
Thoughts rush in of a life I wanted
The life I have now
Is it what I expected?
No...it is so much more

God is merciful
For he saw my heart
He brought me back from the depths of sadness
Into the light and warmth of this kitchen
Who would have thought
That this cup of coffee
is all the two of us need
to find home?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

My sister


A blossom unfolds its petals
gleaming in the dewy morning.

She sits and observes its intricate design
Wondering about the God who created such beauty

She then looks back to her sister
No we are not blood relations
But we are sisters in Christ

I ve always searched for her you see
In the deadly gloom and silence of my youth
I had no one to turn to
and then I found her.

She thought herself an old woman
when I saw a girl in her 20s.

All clad in black and gray
with a trace of lip gloss
Brown eyes hidden by simple glasses
A brilliant artist lurking in her soul

We laugh and drink herbal tea in our cold kitchen
then minutes later I see that stern look
I grow affraid for her smile is replaced by gloom
There is something in it...some pain that is hiding
A life...a brilliant mind and a loving heart
all appear trapped deep within her...
Like a little girl banging fists against the window
That wont open to the sunlit world-
shut up in the darknened house alone.

She seems lost in some darkness
And I cannot find a way to bring her out
To unlock the window and let her fly free

She brought me closer to the Lord
We pore over the Bible
Faithfully with open hearts
She helped me see the truth
Now perhaps He can help her
I pray daily this may be so.

The bloom unfolds its petals
It glimmers
But wilts away quickly.
I see her wilting away
Lord, keep her safe.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The new house



Tremors
She's searching
for a sweet stern face
in the silence
of the kitchen.

Clock beats one two three
each beat penetrating her heart
She cannot bring her back
from her gloom

The Wind whispers through every crack
in the house they moved to...
yet the home is not real
The girl looks on

A room with a view?
There is no view only roof tops
Of dingy suburbs

Trapped in herself
Trapped in her doubts
Praying yet wondering if her prayer is real
Asking God for forgiveness
yet not hearing his reply

The cage of her life suffocates
the laughing spirit of her childhood

She...the girl pouring a cup of tea
a girl or an old woman all in black?
They sat and drank the steamy cup wondering...
about the life around them
and in seeing its absurdity... they smile
No words necessary...a smile was all they needed
To know.

A dark house they cant get used to
yet one thing is sure
they hold on to each other.
She looks at the stern girl and thinks...
"In this life we will always be sisters you and I"
Thats all that matters and our house is a home.
He is there with us
No matter where we go
His house is the one constant in our lives
when all else crumbles.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

A Kite in the wind



A laugh and a tear
Transparent thoughts...
She laughs at the irony
of not having a friend
No one is there
only-
silence
graves
longing.

Searching always for love
Finding it in people
and then losing it like air
She gasps to breathe
but breath comes in ripping coughs.

She draws a jagged line down the paper
Separating her pain from hope
On one side is a sketch of a girl
Swinging back and forth
from a tree branch
As the snow covers her closed lids
She is confused
Why did autumn have to end?
Why are the trees so bare and dead?

Her mind is in pieces and she wonders
yes... wonders at her own selfishness
At this need...this dreadful need for friendship

She fumbles through the pages of Kite Runner
The friendship between Amir and Hassan
and the price one pays for betraying a brother...
A tear rolls down her face
It rolls down down down to the depths of her soul
Because she knows...yes knows that she too betrayed.

She betrayed and hurt her...her own sister
The only sister she ever had or ever will have
And she cannot take it back.
She cannot take back the words
that cut her to pieces like needles
A pain deeper than the papercut on her knuckle
This pain is internal
and it spins her mind out of control
Out of control like a kite in the wind.