1) House for Sale

    Wolran Kim

 

I put my house for sale

Past years laid in piles in every corner

I had to organize and display them neatly

Forgotten furnishings were buried like ashes

The buyers’ clever eyes would focus on blind spots like a microscope

Unveiling naked images under the sun is a fear

 

Enlarged family photos were hidden in the closet earlier

Just like a criminal montage with a reward offered

Success depends on the first impression

Like an elderly person on a blind date

Makeup on the defects should be natural

With no plastic surgery

 

People who come through the front door with the master key

Expect beautiful views and gorgeous interiors

They work for a dirt-cheap price looking for the best deal            

They will open the toilets as if they’re revealing right from wrong

And will open the closet doors as if they’re assigning grades

Checking the heating and ventilation, lighting, and water pressure

All legal invasions of my privacy coming through the screen

 

Talkative neighbors inquire about the market condition and price

While distributing handbills

Age is a shameful past even without any flaws

Every neighborhood is full of houses for sale

Such is a human desire to leave this land

Where do they want to leave to?

 

A nest with a shameful SHORT SALE amulet

Just like a prostitute hidden in the alleyway

Dares to name a dog cheap price

The opportunity passes if they don’t hold the pen instinctively

If they don’t sign without calculating their gains and losses

Old house made by the years

Became a nuisance that must be cleared away

While eating a lifetime of paychecks

 

Today, people look like frauds coming through the door

Minor mistakes cannot be tolerated in their future possessions

Market price is heaven and the practical price is earth

The nest is in danger because I got greedy first

Brokers never ring the doorbell

 

We burned candles to remove the moldy past

And left home, running away from the enemies

Let the rising sun set only on happy memories

Getting rid of lonely traces of the dog

Leaving only this disguised home on the stage

Waiting for someone’s click online, buying our past

 

The FOR SALE sign flew away in high winds last night

And made love with the fallen leaves in the air

The abandoned roof wanders like a lost dog

The house burns in embarrassment

As if I put myself on SALE on the street