Publications by Tanya Ko Hong

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These excerpts are from poems by Tanya Ko Hong (고현혜)

The Halfway Child  (중간지점아이)

I call myself “The Halfway Child” 

“Mother Tongue”  (모국어) 

“Reaching out in the night, I don’t know what
I’m trying to grasp.” 

“American Dream” (아메리칸 드림)

Invisible like a ghost 

Obedient like an Alaskan Husky 

Deaf as a Grand Canyon Rock 

One Summer Night (어느 여름날) 

The Sun is going down--disappearing like me

Go ahead, eat me, eat all of me

I will watch how you steal my life

The Cost of Breath (숨쉬는 값)

Heartwood slow to open, to respire--

A deep elephant stretched 

I couldn’t breathe

Gacela of Moonshine (가셀라의 문샤인)

I do not want to live like a shadow

I refuse to numb my dragon heart 

Gacela of Moonshine (가셀라의 문샤인)

I do not want to please like a lotus on a pond

I refuse to remain a fingerprint on your thigh 

Mother to myself (나는 나의 어머니가 되어)

In my kitchen, I become my mother and feed myself

Mother to myself (나는 나의 어머니가 되어) 

I become my mother 

I am cooking for myself