The Sea Is the Haenyeo’s Tears

Seen at a glance,
it is just a yellowed surface.
A single horizon line,
a few black lines.
But seen long, it is different.
In the center,
a haenyeo, a woman diver, lies heavily, face down.
Her body
slowly comes forth.
Far to the left,
a single small boat
hangs like a dot on the horizon.
Look too quickly and you will not see it.
Only by looking long
do you see what the sea has shed.
The faded color
is not empty.
A sorrow that could not be spoken
has seeped into it.
To gaze long
is to find, within the faded color,
a long-held weeping.
People are the same.
Look quickly and you pass them by;
only by looking long
can you see the weeping within.