Venice masks

Friday 1 March 2024

Sleeping on the Street - Yi Byeong-Ryul

Removing your clothes like old newsprint
I lay you down raw on a damp mattress and look down on you.
Your gnarled hands and feet have lost their vigor
How weary the skinny limbs and ribs look.
I’m sorry.
Using you, I earned a living,
got a woman and set up house but
the only things left are stale sweat and a nightmare road.
Again I laid the pure thing you are
in a secluded corner of unfamiliar ground.
Alas!
I’m not saying there were no good days, yet
the way to paying even a meager wage for your labors is far away.
Now I’m wondering if I would like to go away quietly,
simply leaving you sleeping here.
What about it, body?

Yi Byeong-Ryul (20th century) South Korea
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé

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