Mother's Body

Mother's Body
Yong Wan Choi 06.27.10

Father dwells within it.
the smile of a face where the morning sun rises

held in the soft embrace of a tree's shade
while I drank the milk-water welling from the earth
that blue sky watching over me
I did not know until I grew old

neighbor bodies born along with me
living joyfully mingled with all living things
because I came to see this is your will
the joys and pains engraved in moonlight
until they are hidden by drifting clouds
with a drizzle clearer than tears
the touch of hands that always washes me anew

my body, shaped from my mother's body,
did not come here of my own will
so living with water, fire and wind
until I am a handful of earth scattered in the grass

with the children who will remember us
spring, summer, autumn, winter
I will cultivate that unceasing love