Sky and Sea I: Social History—To Be Adopted Child
Forming an altar
around the star
of my birth mother's origin
year, there is a talisman
for long-distance
—the resurrection
lilies' silvery green-
iridescence, the endless
knot. In the room
where the word
for treasure was spoken,
my birth mother
was there. The listeners
wished for me
an exciting life,
which was unakin
to my substitute
father presenting me
with cocaine,
and my substitute
mother arranging for
me to ride alone
with a dangerous man.
They were seen for four
office interviews and a home visit.
In 1988, my substitute
parents were asked
to appear in court.
The case was finalized.
In one version of mythology,
the future Kitchen God
appears to her children
in a dream: Entrap
a deer. The deer
will say to deceive
a woman pretending
to be their mother
by presenting the baby boars'
livers as their own. In superstition,
dreaming of a pig
is a lucky omen.
I was fond of
the Johnny-Jump-Up.
I arrived with baby slippers—
a freed longing
to live floated
across the night sky
where my birth mother
cast her dreams—
a deep blue rivulet
and the sound of saltwater—
my protective amulet.
This poem includes and alters language from Seong Uk Kim's "Buddhist Rituals of Ch'ilsŏng, the Seven Stars of the Great Dipper, in Chosŏn Korea," appearing in the Journal of Korean Religions.
It also includes and alters language from the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Literature: Encyclopedia of Korean Folklore and Traditional Culture Vol. III by the National Folk Museum of Korea (South Korea) and Executive Editor Chung Myung-sub (Director, Folk Research Division).