As My Life is a Dream
By Chungmi Kim
I painted a phoenix in bright colors
cut it in nine pieces and cooked it
in a pot at the mountaintop.
I stirred it as if cranking reels of
a movie. Unraveled were a series
of faces in mosaic.
Kurosawa appeared. He asked me
what my story was about.
Tongue-tied, I could not answer.
He handed me a token with a silvery
eagle engraved, ready to fly.
How real I thought everything was
in my dream!
In my waking hour, I see
the remnant of the war between
my head and heart.
Now in cease-fire, my chest is filled
with the fresh breeze of serenity.
I begin to breathe gently as my story
is unraveled like in a movie.
No longer haunted, my love of God soars
as I see my guardian angel smile
in the clear blue sky, transforming to
one gigantic phoenix.
My wandering in the wilderness of
the mind has taught me a little wisdom.
I believe my dreams are real
as my life is a dream.
Copyright Credit: Chungmi Kim, “As My Life is a Dream” from Glacier Lily. Copyright © 2004 by Chungmi Kim. Reprinted by permission of Red Hen Press.
Source: Glacier Lily (Red Hen Press, 2004)