In the Year of the Ox

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Elaine Kim

 

I used to think I was ugly

Because my pores would ooze

With the history of struggle and survival,

As winds gusted from the east to the west,

Till they knocked down an immigrant man,

Who so loves his immigrant wife.

I used to poke at my face,

Shrinking and stretching years of

Love and survival

That I could not— did not— see

Because I was looking through

The goggles made by a white man

Who so loves his white lies.

But yesterday, I saw the birth of love

Sparked by love: in the mirror was the marriage

Of the Rabbit and the Ox—

Oozing golden energy marked by the sun.

Downturned eyes guiding a journey of love

Birthed by love,

I finally recognized

I, who had forgotten myself.

 

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Elaine writes, “I am a first generation Korean-American woman, and a 4th year English and Psychology Major, from Ridgewood, NJ. 2021 is the year of the Ox in the Asian zodiac, which is my late father’s birth-year zodiac, and also marks the year of his 10-year memorial. This poem was inspired and is dedicated to my father, Junghoon Kim.