Messages of a dead mother to her child

I wanted to remember 2022 as the year when the poet Jin Eun-young published her new poems. It took ten years for the poet to release her new anthology titled "I Love You Like I Love an Old Street." I would like to introduce the 39th poem in her new compilation. I apologize to her fans for unveiling only one poem, and only partially even, out of her 42 new beautiful works.

In a literary magazine, the autumn of 2014 issue, I first encountered the poem I am about to introduce to you. Eight years have passed since then. I felt just as delighted when I met the poem again. I could notice that some words were different from the original version. The phrase that went "I want to become a small vase and be put on your table along with Benjamin plant pot" changed to "I want to become a white vase and be put on your table along with cute little flowers."

Time has passed and words have changed, so I expected that it would feel different when I read the poem now. I hoped it would feel less painful than when I read it eight years ago. However, the poem defied my wish. Long goodbyes are always hurtful then and now.

Death stops you from being even something as trivial as mud. You cannot see your beloved ones grow tall, lead their lives, and grow old. The poet is heartbroken for not being able to do anything about death when the nature of death prohibits you from doing anything about it. There are so many early deaths. I wish I could look back on 2022 and say it is the year when Jin's new anthology was released, but I don't think that would be possible anymore.