
I was born in late summer
across the Yellow Sea
where the damp winds blow inside
the shallow shores
the salt
wet on my tongue
a motherless daughter
abandoned in the street
this is how the story goes
I wonder what is the truth?
***
Did my birth mother name me
after I was born?
Jung Ran 정란 means orchid
perhaps the sounds of my name
flowed gently from her soft lips
like when a mother cradles her baby
and whispers, “I love you”.
***
What is your mother’s surname?
The passport gripped tightly in my hand
my head bangs against
the echoes
too heavy inside my ears
My daughter, you were wanted.
You were not a mistake.
***
Last night, I imagined
I bloomed delicate purple flowers
that leaned into the eastern sun
years of being dormant
the petals turned brown
not ready to leave this world
the roots dug into the muddy earth
I breathed in the cool winter air
reborn like a bright moon
in the night sky.