Genesis
Genesis
A Short Poem Written By Leb Mofsky
God dragged his finger along the earth
and said, Let there be
Gwangju River. And so it was.
And it was good.
The water flowed, but the land was bare.
God said, Let there be
plants and animals. He made
the sharp-beaked heron
shimmering fish
and the snake. God saw it
and was pleased.
He leaned in the shade of the willow
and said, Let this be
a place of healing.
He brought a man
and a woman
to rest beside the softly flowing river.
And so it was. And it was good.
But soon there were strange doings at Gwangju River.
For the man hid himself
behind a large black net, and played
mysterious games.
The woman hid herself
in pants, long-sleeved shirts, masks, visors and hats
and walked vigorously
as if the river were something to get past.
God saw it, and was perplexed.
They installed a PA system
and played The Godfather Theme or James Bond instrumentals
anything to drown out the river.
They wore loud clothing
with bright splotches of pink, purple, red, yellow and blue
as if to mock the sun
or compete with it.
God saw it, and was distressed.
He wanted to nudge
the man and woman back into righteousness.
He sent two of his cherubim
down to Gwangju River
bearing spray cans and stencils
to mark the path with great white arrows
and the word 우측보행
WALK ON THE RIGHT.
God was subtle.
But they ignored his gentle admonition
walking left, right and center
and even rode their bikes and scooters
wherever it suited them best
in great defiance.
God clenched his fists.
He began to brew two great storms
one in the east, and one in the west
to collide above Gwangju River
and wash it away, along with the man and woman.
Before he could release the great flood
it happened that an angel came on urgent business.
God was detained for two hours
and he forgot about Gwangju River.
So it remains to this day, as it was. Strangely doing.