Dating 1

I am sorry
About the way I loved
Whether you wanted it or not, morning till night
I traced a line from your window to my living room window
I undressed you and dressed you. I was in love.
I lied, envied, and hated you. I was in pain.
Not once did I allow you to be yourself
Not once did I look at you the way you did
Took it upon myself to scissor-cut, glue, and patch you up

I am so sorry

By Kim Myung Won
translated, from the Korean, by EJ Koh

 
EJ Koh is a poet and an author. Her work has been published in TriQuarterly, Southeast Review, The Journal, Susquehanna Review, Gulf Stream, and elsewhere. A finalist of the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize in Poetry. Masters of Fine Arts at Columbia University. She blogs at angelaejkoh.com. Her first novel Red is due out this year.

Kim Myung Won is a poet and a professor of Korean literature at Daejun University in Seoul, Korea.