grandparents
who made my life possible:
To my grandparents - My grandparents are perhaps some of the strongest people I will ever encounter. Though they have all experienced so much in their lives–the Korean War, the aftermath of the violence, the hardships of relationships, abusive parents, and many unfulfilled hopes, they have made it a conscious (or maybe unconscious) decision to only show me so much undeserved, unconditional understanding and love. No words, no pictures, no art could ever encapsulate the pain they had to go through, pain that I will never truly fully understand, for my life to be possible.
Thank you, for shaping the ugly so I could have good.
the Chuns
A borderless land it used to be
But no longer on that fatal day
And thus the move to the south
Began
hard fast
No time to think
No time to die
Only time to survive
We try again and again
Desperate sisyphean we are
14 years old
And head of the household
NEWSPAPERS AND COINS
And they turn us away
We try again
Checkpoints
and lost childhoods
Make it through
Ugly to good we hope
Not
Yet
Past the borders
A self-made man
Arose from the ashes
From newspapers and coins
the Yis
Wildflowers
Winter storms we’re leaving behind
Greeted by wildflowers dancing in the wind
In the middle of winter
California, America we landed
Living all together
Finding work
Starting all over again
Rocky soil our feet sunk in
Working with my kids
Hurting hearts, hurting pride
Cleaning and wearied
Feet forming into baby roots
Winter storms in our hearts
Sun rages on
A rainbow appears
Sprouting into buds
Wildflowers we’ve grown into
Freedom we’ve embraced
Lives we’ve created
California, America we are.