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Poetry Spotlight: Jiye Lee




Last year saw the publication of Jiye Lee's tender and lyrical chapbook, 'Aftereffects'. It's a moving chapbook that skilfully encompasses the universal emotions we all feel throughout our lives - love, loss, grief - but is imbued with Jiye's personal experiences to make it all the more lingering.






Jiye has been writing some more poetry since we published 'Aftereffects', and we're proud to be able to share one of her poems, 하루 (Haru) here:


하루


This morning, I looked up to the sky

and saw a white arrowhead

gliding out of sight.

I breathed in the years gone by,

remembered the moment I gazed after one

soaring above me;

at that exact time, you were on your way to Egypt,

and I prayed so hard you’d arrive there safely.

The December air chills my skin

but the memory sheds tears

and warms my heart –

the thought of you returning

like a snowflake

falling

when I least expected it,

whispering 하루 – ‘Haru’ – another day.

All these are reminders you send me;

the bluest of skies

skewered by contrails,

the light of the rising sun on a cold winter’s day –

how you surround me in the smallest of things

if I take the time to stop and meditate-

time goes fast

but returns slowly, circling

back to a place, a home

I can never leave.



You can keep up to date with Jiye on twitter at @jiyelee21 and Instagram at @jiyelee21.


Buy 'Aftereffects' here in paperback.


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