By Jo Eun Young, Korea. See also: Meet Me at Three O’clock at the LerDevagar Bookstore and The Woman Not On Any List
Featured image: Silk Tree by Park Sojin
Beneath the silk tree,
the cry of cicadas
becomes a curtain.
The forest
holds a wedding come too late,
while the wind
still clings
to the edge of the veil.
Shall we go now?
Lifting
the frayed hem
just a little,
we walk
along the back
that evening offers.
The road steps aside
to be alone.
At a corner
where endings are delayed,
words left unsaid
lie folded.
The cicadas
leave their cries behind,
and the long blessing
fades away.
A promise
to cry one day through
and molt.
I became
a bride for a single day,
walking barefoot.
We walk side by side,
only to drift
past one another
at last.
Upon our joined hands,
the living world
settles,
layer by layer.
Let us make a veil
from light
coming loose
at the seams.
With blue evening
wrapped around our ankles,
we slip away
among summer’s guests.
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