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

Source: Brother Anthony of Taizé's website