What News Have You Brought

A crow

flew in close to the roof

and circled.

I
stood under the eaves

and looked up at the bird.

“Where

have you come from?”

The crow

did not answer.

It beat its wings

once, wide.

“Have you come

from Seoul?”

Again

no answer.

There was much

I wanted to ask.

Are they eating well.
Is anyone ill.
How much have the children grown.

The questions rose to my lips
and went down again, one by one.

What was left at the end
was a single question.

“Is everyone
well?”

The crow
circled once more.

I
waited for an answer.

Nothing
came.

After a long while
I spoke first.

“If they're well,
that's enough.”

The crow
flew far away.

Whether toward Seoul,
I could not tell.

I
raised my hand.

Not high.

So small
that no one watching
would have known.

The crow
grew distant.

The hand
stayed there a moment.

And then
slowly came down.