Omen

Outside, the stars
are heavy.

A god naming everything
once void, once empty.

A ferry & a sea,
each eating each other.

The sky carries a familiar face
& the moon licks the face of water.

The water that gave us flight
didn’t tell us we would die at the bank.

Outside, the stars
are heavy

with names of boys
carried across the sea. 

The Sea might have meant Freedom

I tried to lift that ship. Or was the
boat wooden like cross? The
stars nesting over an unnamed town.
The sea is retreating and leaving.
Each coming carrying a group of men,
shackled and numbered.
My grandfather, in the stillness of the sea
started a song. The sea sang along.

The day the civil war began

after JH Yun’s Sundays for the Faithfuls

We entered the day as innocent as a lambs.
The morning came and came. My…