10) The Wall Mirror

       Wolran Kim

 

In her premature new apartment

Still never hung

A heavy wall mirror stands vertically

Her smile that was sold in a lease

Just finished moving fearlessly

“Mother, I need two strong nails

I want to hang this sideways above the sofa like the horizon”

A mercury glass wall reflecting only her upper body

The border that may touch the sky or sea

Must make a right angle with the direction of gravity

It should hold weight as slight as a spring wind

It should read even uneasily

Her morning silhouette that she wears again

And the back view of the sunset after her day

It should hear the sound of waves coming over her

It should pass through the blocking shadows of the mountain before her

It should carve her full length, standing on her short arms and legs

Not her surging hair on top of the shoulders of her torso

Can she adjust the glance between her right and left eyes?

Can it show the Seven Dwarfs, not just Snow White and the queen?

I just wish her lonely nest never gets possessed by the glare

Under the roof of a storming life

I’m going to buy two strong, long nails

Which will steady her mornings after changing her mind all night

I wish her picture, hung on the wall

Is not just freedom inside a double locked one bedroom

But the road where she can find her way out through the porch

I hope it is the sky

I hope it is the sea

The border of her bangs brushed away

When she fixes her hair facing the mirror