Joys Of Our Lives

Reds must’ve abducted him, my mother used to
say of her big brother, dabbing at her eyes.
before the separation of the peninsular
they kidnapped many smart people
to the north to build a super powered nation.
My brother was an educator,
tall with golden tanned skin.
she sobbed. We must unite!

Her brother
only a few miles away from her rural home over
the high mountain across the river.
By then the siblings had long since gone.
Bitter smile on the cousin’s face echoed mine.

Now that we enjoy all the modern amenities,
our eyes still wet with yearning to find our lost
relatives, over the barbed wire.
The policy, like air in a balloon,
their constant war threat,
secret weapons test.

I hear her voice,
What happened to our brotherhood?
What is above the joy of our lives?
Learn the mountain and ocean, their wisdom.

Her ghost vanishes,
word flying in the wind.

©Byung A. Fallgren

This piece is one of the three poems accepted by
SUBNIVEAN, which will be published in the
SUBNIVEAN, Summer 2022: POETRY.
Subnivean is the magazine published by the
State University of New York at Oswego. I appreciate
the editors at the SUBNIVEAN for accepting these pieces.