Sound II, Ocean Tone

A single thread of light slips through the door—
it paints the ceiling, soft and sure.

Before the time has come,
no matter which path I choose or leave behind,
I say,
“At last, I have arrived. All is ready.”

Today—
not tomorrow—
today I die alone
on the barren mountain’s peak.

Brass bracelets clash and ring,
jangling in the quiet air.
My soul, trapped in a body stripped to bone,
swells and rocks like a restless sea.

Curses and whispers race the streets,
sparks flying across my brow.

“I have wrestled,” I whisper.

Flowers and blue waters gasp,
climbing toward the place of reckoning.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
We are human—
and cannot bear the weight.

“I will go.”

• Taehun Yoon, 1990