TAEYEON HAN - POEMS

Taeyeon Han is a student in California. You can find his work on loose-leaf paper and on the Notes app. 

Poison
​

Grains of excellence have paved their way through my skin,
           piercing, poising the poison in my bloodstream.
                  I was taught that the Sun rises in the east and falls in the west,
           but no,
become a force of nature,
                    they say.
           Become a storm of hail and wind and scorch mountains a beautiful red.
impossible,
                    is what I try to say,
                              but my lips are slack with defeat.
What will you be?
            the pencil eroded away into uselessness?
the pen, a plastic husk of lifelessness?
            no,
history is written by the champions
            and let it be known
that I will have pencils and pens in my hand until the end of time.

Distantly Dancing
​

​distantly, distantly,
miles through the fog and rain and nuclear haze,
over desolate fields of dry earth sown by flames alone,
past the toppled corpses of ancient trees,
along paths of cracked asphalt connecting crumbling homes,
within a crater of dust and rock,
there lies love.
dancing, dancing,
spinning and twirling and swaying and humming,
one, two,
holding close and letting go.
once, in their empty house, they sang the blues.
once, sitting six feet apart, they rested on the sand and watched the ocean.
once, excited, they ran together to a place of hope.
once, quiet and tired, they drove back and cried.
now, they dance.
one, two,
loving and wishing and holding and hoping;
if not forever,
then for a very long time.