Halmoni

The lines on our marbled faces, one for every blow
every fist ducked in defiance and swung again
Desperation in the devil’s work you embraced
We die cold and alone and though we talk now we shall never hold our peace
as every piece has been owned, lost, taken and thrown away
I am so many pieces that I am everywhere and I am nothing.

I have seen enough of the swords, blows and bleeding
200,000 times a lifetime
Our nine faces show the pain of a fifth of a million
and our bodies are heavy with the lost souls of Korea’s daughters

We were so young and now we are old
What happened in between?
They grabbed us, stole us, raped us and scattered us
This house is all that holds us now

There are not enough words to describe the rage of this haunting
Yet words are all we have, for all the good they do
it can never be enough
You or I cannot erase the scars I show you now
Where he stabbed and twisted the Japanese knife in my 15 year old arm

My teeth never came of age
They scattered them on that path in China when I tried to run
Milky white against the blood I would never submit even then
But day after day, man after man
Four years eroded my whole lifetime
Til only survival remained.

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(For the Korean Halmonies (comfort women) of Sharing House, Seoul, who suffered at the hands of the Japanese Army in WWII, and are still waiting for an apology.)

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~ by frommonkeystohumans on June 24, 2008.