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Night Mirror
Li-Young, don't feel
lonely when you look up
into great night and find yourself the far face
peering
hugely out from between a star and a star. All that
space
the nighthawk plunges through, homing, all that distance beyond
embrace, what is it but your won infinity.
lonely when you look up
into great night and find yourself the far face
peering
hugely out from between a star and a star. All that
space
the nighthawk plunges through, homing, all that distance beyond
embrace, what is it but your won infinity.
And don't be afraid when,
eyes closed, you look inside you
and find night is both the silence
tolling after stars
and the final word that founds all beginning, find
night,
eyes closed, you look inside you
and find night is both the silence
tolling after stars
and the final word that founds all beginning, find
night,
abyss and shuttle, a
finished cloth frayed by the years, then gathered in the songs and
games mothers teach their children.
finished cloth frayed by the years, then gathered in the songs and
games mothers teach their children.
Look again and find
yourself changed and changing, now the bewildered honey fallen into your
own hands,
now the immaculate fruit born of hunger.
Now the unequaled
perfume of your dying.And time? Time is the salty wake of your
stunned entrance upon no name.
yourself changed and changing, now the bewildered honey fallen into your
own hands,
now the immaculate fruit born of hunger.
Now the unequaled
perfume of your dying.And time? Time is the salty wake of your
stunned entrance upon no name.
~ Li-Young Lee
~
~
(Book of My
Nights)
Nights)
Li-Young Lee has a
fascinating family history. Lee's maternal grandfather was the first
president of the Republic of China. His father, however, came from a
family of businessmen and gangsters. During the Chinese Civil War,
Lee's father was attached to a nationalist general who switched sides,
which resulted in Dr. Lee becoming the personal physician to Mao
Tse-tung for a brief time.
Li-Young Lee was born after the war
when his family had moved to Indonesia. While Lee was still a toddler,
his father was jailed for political reasons for nearly two years. When
he was eventually released, the family moved about for a while. In Hong
Kong Lee's father became a hugely successful evangelical preacher and
businessman.
Lee's father was an emotional man and, after an
argument, he dropped everything and left with his family, finally
settling in the United States, where Dr. Lee became the minister of a
small church in Pennsylvania.
Li-Young Lee grew up in the US and studied at the University of Pittsburgh. He currently lives in Chicago.
fascinating family history. Lee's maternal grandfather was the first
president of the Republic of China. His father, however, came from a
family of businessmen and gangsters. During the Chinese Civil War,
Lee's father was attached to a nationalist general who switched sides,
which resulted in Dr. Lee becoming the personal physician to Mao
Tse-tung for a brief time.
Li-Young Lee was born after the war
when his family had moved to Indonesia. While Lee was still a toddler,
his father was jailed for political reasons for nearly two years. When
he was eventually released, the family moved about for a while. In Hong
Kong Lee's father became a hugely successful evangelical preacher and
businessman.
Lee's father was an emotional man and, after an
argument, he dropped everything and left with his family, finally
settling in the United States, where Dr. Lee became the minister of a
small church in Pennsylvania.
Li-Young Lee grew up in the US and studied at the University of Pittsburgh. He currently lives in Chicago.
https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/L/LeeLiYoung/index.htm