Dan Byeol's Poetry

여기(Here)

avonmarissa — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:24:31 +0000

Why do I linger in this space called your heart?

Refusing to go to the abode of my groom,

rejecting bridal palanquin and shoulders of eunuch alike,

trapped in the many corners of your heart,

held in by pearly gates of confusion,

an escape I search not.

Why do I linger,

holding onto rusting pillars of once happy memories,

refusing to bequeath them to a graveyard of buried dreams?

Why do I hold onto this apparition called love?

Yarn Power 2

avonmarissa — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:52:10 +0000

Some new pictures

The Heart of the Courtesan/ 기녀의 마음

avonmarissa — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:24:18 +0000

Spring arrives, new life blooms,

But this heart of mine, in cold hesitations, lies in wait,

Oh until how long, will my Lord arrive?

Oh until how long, shall I wait to lie in my love’s embrace?

Looking through the Black Box

avonmarissa — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:49:33 +0000

I watched as the shouts of the crowd grew louder, and the sun set upon the cold gray stone building with the electric barbed wire fence. The dust from the dry African ground mixed with cries for justice filled the already tense air. The demand for equality and the memories of the father who sat in a gritty urine soaked island jail spurred the crowd on. The shiny glint of the guns appeared but the crowd knew no reason, and their shouts got louder with every step. The man picked up the little one and held him close to his chest with one hand, and raised his other sweaty black arm in the air in protest with his brothers. The guards paused for a minute deciding whether to open the black gate that looked like an iron net. The stubborn crowd undaunted by the appearance of more khaki clad white soldiers broke into song. They started to stomp their feet and wave their hands, and for a minute they sounded like elephants in flight to a watering hole. The gate opened and the soldiers filed out in order. They stood in front of the gate in a horizontal line with their guns pointing straight ahead. A voice spoke out from inside the gray building and said, “Idiots, return to your filthy homes now or we will show you what we can do.” The crowd did not proceed further but stood where they were and continued to sing and wave their arms in the air. Suddenly it began. The soldiers started to fire into the crowd, and one by one they began to fall. Each body hit the ground and more dust rose with every fall. Some began to run but they fell into the blood-soaked sand and others on top of other blood-soaked bodies. One by one they fell to their hunter’s gun, and all that was left was the little one. His faded blue shirt was now a mixture of dust and his father’s blood. He tugged at his father’s lifeless body hoping that he would wake up from his sleep. He held the body with his two little stained hands and attempted to help him up but he couldn’t. He started to cry and say, “Papa, get up so we can go home”, but Papa was not going home today. He had gone with his brothers in solidarity to the place where hundreds of our brothers have already gone. Papa was gone, forever, lost in the struggle against apartheid.

Letter to My First Love- An Insomniac’s Introspection

avonmarissa — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:41:35 +0000

Dear Beloved,

It has been ten years, ten years since that realization came to me: that realization under the hot African sun that I was not only in love, but madly in love. I had cherished your friendship long before that, but I am sorry that I was not able to protect the love you had for me. I was good to you the only way I knew to love a man, but perhaps, that was not good enough. As much as I loved you, I feared you. You were full of energy, energy that I feared would consume you … and me. Nevertheless, I hung onto you uncertain of the future. I sometimes wonder whether you were the first to let go and if you were right to do so. Our future together seemed bleak and you were ever a pragmatic person. Years have passed, and you and I have ‘moved’ on, but this heart of mine refuses to surrender the room you left inside even though you now lie in another woman’s embrace. So, on this tenth year of our once blossomed love, I will try, yet again, to put you to rest. I will bequeath the memories, not to the hard cold earth, but the waves of the sea. There I shall bid a final farewell to the great love that was my first.

Sincerely,

(한 단 별)

밤의 바람 – Night’s wind

avonmarissa — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:32:58 +0000

I step into the chilly night and I am reminded, “ahh, it’s that time again!” That night, many moons ago, when you left without so much of a goodbye. Suddenly, quietly, without a word, you walked away. I allow myself to wonder, if just for a moment, if you are happy in that place you bravely chose to go to. Have you finally let go of all the sad memories, and have you now embraced new ones, happier ones? The endless questions start to overcome me, but I shrug them off and allow the night’s coldness to shroud me. I keep walking as the memories force their way in, memories of you, the person who now lies in a cold place.
사랑해, Always and Forever.

For all the beautiful hearts that cried so much they could not beat anymore.

친구 – Friend

avonmarissa — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:12:49 +0000

Dearest friend, do you hear me, shouting from this little corner of the world, where sun and gloomy rain compete for my affection. Are you happy? Is that place warm and are the streets there paved with love and every sort of goodness? Dearest friend, the roads you did not walk, I’ll try and walk them for you; the life you did not get to live, I will take it on for you. I will live life bountifully, taking on God’s blessings and life’s woes head on. When the harsh waves of life toss me about, I will hold on and look to better days ahead. I will live life in all its beauty as I remember the wonderful gifts you bestowed on me – the wonderful memories and above all, your beautiful friendship.

Flight

avonmarissa — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:40:27 +0000

From the harshness of this sun, I flee – into this merciless rain,

a hiding place I search… in vain.

그리움 – Longing

avonmarissa — Sat, 23 May 2009 22:29:38 +0000

Morning monsoon rain-

falls softly on tin roof-

and reminds me of you.

A Tribute to My Lord HGY

avonmarissa — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:07:26 +0000

A Tribute to My Lord HGY; on the loss of a Great Mind

Far above the thatched roofs of despair,

Away from the mournful echoes of this great sea,

my Lord leaves,

in a palanquin carried high above the tattered hearts

that still yearn for him.

“What shall we do when we miss you?”

Shall we call unto you with

our already sorrow-spent voices?

Will you rise from your uncertain resting place

and speak to us again?

Perhaps you will answer us

and appease our crushed souls.

Far above this Chosen land,

My Lord leaves,

mourned by King and water-bearer alike.

Away from this hermit kingdom,

my Lord leaves,

his return very uncertain.