After you've gone don't go, don't
After you've come don't come, don't
When you depart, they close your eyes, put your hands together and cry
don't go, don't go
But when you say open the door, open the door, they say don't come, don't
come
They glue a paper doll onto a bamboo stick and say don't come, don't come
They throw your clothes into the fire and say don't come, don't come
That's why you're footless
wingless
yet all you do is fly
unable to land
You're visible even when you hide
You know everything even without a brain
You feel so cold
even without a body
That's why this morning the nightgown hiding under the bed
is sobbing quietly to itself
Water collects in your coffin
You've already left the coffin
Your head's imprint on the moon pillow
Your body's imprint on the cloud blanket
So after you've gone don't go, don't
So after you've come don't come, don't
Copyright © 2016 by Kim Hyesoon / 2018 by Don Mee Choi
After You're Gone / DAY SIX
the Korean written by Kim Hyesoon