Over the Course of Several Decades Following the Korean War, South Korea Became the World’s Largest Supplier of Children to Developed Countries
Some(where a) woman wears
the face once given. Possessions
scarce we go halves on slant
of eye & span of palm with cousin & other
ghosts. Where is the man with the face lent
mother? Fathers rare; infant found
at Shinkyo police station box—official
shoes careened around fortune of Name
& birth, pin &
note. Elsewhere (Norway, Australia)
another Korean
National bears the imprint
of my din. Cribs, nurse, hands, rice-milk powder, down
& rocked—carefully dated
checks. American/Father
asks Why. We don’t speak. Years
burn to decades, this permanent
occupation.
Copyright Credit: Sun Yung Shin, "Over the Course of Several Decades Following the Korean War, South Korea Became the World’s Largest Supplier of Children to Developed Countries" from Skirt Full of Black. Copyright © 2006 by Sun Yung Shin. Reprinted by permission of Coffee House Press, www.coffeehousepress.org.
Source: Skirt Full of Black (Coffee House Press, 2006)