A collection of my favorite pieces written over the years.
From 200.8:
My favorite poem, thus far. A Valentine’s Day present.
“Somewhere in Between”
It’s amazing,
How we both understand
That somewhere in between the 400 miles,
The 8 years,
The letters, laughs,
Smiles, secrets,
Talks, teases,
The one hundred and one hundred plus ten,
Lies a feeling, a connection–
That bond–
That no one knows about.
It’s beautiful,
How somewhere in between fate and reality,
Strangers and lovers,
I crash and fall,
Waiting for nothing,
Yet waiting for everything
To happen.
And once a year,
Everyone obsesses over
Chocolates and flowers,
Fancy dinners, fancy presents
Only to compensate for what they don’t have,
What we have:
An understanding, a trust—
Year-round–
In which these words do no justice in describing.
So I’m standing in the middle,
Somewhere in between
What is, what may be, and what shouldn’t be.
Afraid to cross moving lines, shifting borders
That have kept us safe, that have kept us apart.
I will always recall
Breathing,
Feeling,
Capturing,
Holding
Onto this moment in the cold rain,
Onto this moment in the Golden Gate Park,
Onto this moment in the quiet, blissful morning,
Thinking:
I just want you to be happy.
But when all’s said and done,
I realize we may end up
Following different paths to pursue
Our separate dreams.
But please know,
I’ll always be
Proud of you, happy for you.
I’ll always be
Somewhere in between
Your best friend and everything that was meant to be.
-L. Kim
1/29/2008
From 200.2:
My attempt at a Faulknerian piece, written for Ms. Parker’s English Honors class.
As she faded into the horizon rippling a blend of pink, orange, red, purple, and blue colors, I felt an easy evening breeze brush by my cheek, so soft and delicate was its touch as it kissed my face that I was overwhelmed by great calm, which would not be disturbed even when the watch ticked past seven, eight, nine ten o’clock. The motionless darkness tried to creep up behind me as I sat by the window, but I noticed it at first, took it by surprise, and wrestled with its control, yet I underestimated its omnipotence because as I overlooked my suburban hometown, I could only see black with few specks of luminous dots. I wondered how and why civilians, not children, not women nor men, but civilians who have the power to control their actions and course of their lives, allow this evil darkness, a kin of death and poison and lies that have been haunting our ancestors and their ancestors since the existence of mankind, to take over their happiness by luring them into wretched nightmares full of unpleasant thoughts and frightening fantasies every single night of their lives and then instantly waking them screaming deafening sounds, cursing foul words, and crying rivers of tears. Once again, although I anticipated that today would be different from all the other 390 days of waging war on this mighty enemy, tonight I found that I was the only one strong enough, brave enough, to equip myself with the most powerful weapon of all while the rest of the world fell into the traps of adversary, fighting one on one using tactics and strategies against this destructive force which has caused me to lose everything I have, everything I own, everything I had ever held onto; but this was my destiny. Unconscious they slept as the darkness ruined their precious minds and innocent souls, creating vampires and witches and burglars and terrorists blowing up homes and buildings in their dreams, so when they heard me roar against the emptiness in anger and frustration and anxiety like I have for the past 390 sleepless nights, they actually heard nothing at all but the sweet parlance of silence. The bright golden flickering glare above the mountains signaled me, telling me that my shift was over, that we have not lost and tonight was merely another draw. Her glowing rays glittered everywhere and purified all that darkness touched and damaged; we have shared this duty of ours to become the unrecognized saviors against night, against evil, forever defending the world against the cruelty of immoral darkness. So, she began her shift by spreading her colors across the sky, from pink to orange, to red, to purple, and then, to blue.
