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from Native Guard: Poems (2007)
I was asleep while you were dying. It’s as if you slipped through some rift, a hollow I make between my slumber and my waking,
the Erebus I keep you in, still trying not to let go. You’ll be dead again tomorrow, but in dreams you live. So I try taking
you back into morning. Sleep-heavy, turning,
my eyes open, I find you do not follow. Again and again, this constant forsaking.
*
Again and again, this constant forsaking:
my eyes open, I find you do not follow. You back into morning, sleep-heavy, turning.
But in dreams you live. So I try taking, not to let go. You’ll be dead again tomorrow. The Erebus I keep you in—still, trying—
I make between my slumber and my waking. It’s as if you slipped through some rift, a hollow. I was asleep while you were dying.
Oh, Mun Hou, this is so true and so sad.