A Poem for March: Translating Lineage
the first time i heard the phrase “호적에서 판다”
was a pre IMF soap opera.
i’ve heard it since, in family arguments
during fights in restaurants
“I will remove you from the lineage”
is how it might translate
or perhaps
from the lineage you will be expunged
often the accused will respond, sure
go ahead
displaying their ambivalence to the lineage, their ability to remain
calm during hurricanes, ultimatums
recognition for the accuser to remove the accused. a fancy
a drawing:
a possibility
to refashion your lineage in a moment of danger.
war, second families
north selectors who never returned
constructed property
orphans sent away
immigrants without papers
stolen persons
outside the lineage and
made outside of the lineage
poetry as archive for those without lineage
poetry as loom for those without lineage
treacherous present for the only future imaginable—
*
the act of denying the father
is to peer into one’s records and
situate first the enslaved
and then all others
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