Words of a Ghost

By Yi Kyu Ree
 

Translated by Rodney E. Tyson & Hong Eun-Taek

The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism, 3(1), 227-229. Spring 2000.

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        i was forgotten, completely forgotten, without a war, without even a farewell, one day, when i was left as the one person no one knows in a group photograph,^* what i had to do first of all was to find and murder those in the photograph one by one, A. B. C. D. . . . in order, no, ka. na. da. ra.^** . . . in order, no, in the order i had loved them . . . because of the sound of the rain no one could tell i had come in, rain like a broker of stolen goods, i put on white cotten gloves and as i headed into the darkness began to wring their necks, i am rain, white cotton gloves, a broker of stolen goods, so be quiet, a flower vase cried out, magazines on a table whined, and slippers, a coffee pot were surprised and jumped up and down, i cut the windpipes of the phone through which my voice once flowed, of the cuckoo clock which had cried out appointment times for me, and when i pressed down on the television screen, Chinese ink gushed out, i dipped my finger into the ink that was the color of oblivion and wrote the words of a ghost on the mirror,
        'anyone, do not trust memories'
        a ghost must laugh hee hee hee, must come out without the sound of footsteps, must leave only a silhouette behind, but why does that lump of sorrow constantly follow me without fear, when i came back and took off the white cotton gloves, the ghost disappeared and i, the shell, dropped down and flattened as a black cloak
 

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^*A parody of Rue Des Boutiques Obscures (Street of Dark Stores) written by Patrick Modiano, translated by Kim Hwa Young.
^**The first four letters of the Korean alphabet.

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The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism | Curriculum Vitae