Mircea Boboc, e-Cats, 2021 (Artist Website)
Watercolor on paper, 29.7 x 21 cm
A woman in Japan
was writing poems
about tangerines
and reminded me
desire is rooted
in a “star.” “Desidus”
means “away from
a star.” I admired
a young woman’s
pretty Korean
eyes and her cats’
bowls—“Oppa,” she said
to find an answer
to my questions.
시 (si) is poem.
시인 (siin) is poet.
희미하게 빛나다
(hi-mi-ha-ge-bin-na-da)
is a sparkle that is
there and then not,
“shining dimly.” Far
from Korea, I read
about a young seductress
saying, “Oppa”
to a handsome Korean
man she didn’t know.
“Oppa,” I thought,
with my quiet voice,
to remember how it felt
like some deep excitement
to risk one’s life.