Let me tell you something
I’ve learned while living on earth:
Some humans clip the wings of birds
So that they can’t fly up + escape.
.
When I lost my 한복
My wings were clipped.
I couldn’t fly up.
.
On days when
The sky is clear + blue
If I stare long + hard
I can make out my home, high, distant.
Without my 한복, my wings clipped,
I must suppress the urge to go up.
.
I love my human + our children
.
But I cannot contain
This pain that surges through me.
How long?
.
Since the beginning
Flying was living.
.
Being grounded + rooted in this foreign land
I have lost
Some part of myself.
Am I no longer 선녀?
.
Am I a creature
Caught between heaven + earth
Unrecognizable
In either world?
.
Can I teach myself
.
To fly again?
.
Soyoung L Kim
MOULTING No.3: 선녀의 한복 (sunyeo’s hanbok)
Watercolor on rice paper
14.5 x 12.5 x 9 inches
Detail shots below
Thank you for the lovely poem and the gorgeous dress, it brightened my day!
Wow, this is beautiful!