TO CONSTRUCT ETERNITY
the parent is trying to complete before dawn
a final human stairway
past moon and stars
the child will one day climb
like a crib’s bars, only to find
in a pool of sunlight
a toy hammer.
Ed Bok Lee is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Mitochondrial Night (Coffee House Press, March 2019). The son of North and South Korean emigrants—his mother originally a refugee from what is now North Korea; his father was raised during the Japanese colonial period and Korean War in what is now South Korea, Lee grew up in South Korea, North Dakota, and Minnesota, and was educated there and later on both U.S. coasts, Russia, South Korea, and Kazakhstan. Honors include the American Book Award, Minnesota Book Award, Asian American Literary Award (Members’ Choice), and a PEN/Open Book Award. He currently teaches at Metropolitan State University, and for two decades has taught in programs for youth and the incarcerated.