Arari
아라리
June 19, 2021
After finishing the long ritual, we returned to Bukshil.
I hummed Jeongseon Arirang the whole time.
Had Grandma forgotten Bukshil, the place where she'd spent her life?
Strangely and sadly, both Grandma and Grandpa suffered from the same illness.
With fragile memories, they seemed to be searching for a distant, forgotten love.
Like traversing Jeongseon's steep mountain paths, they searched beyond winding hills for their first love—
a love from a place where nothing had a name.
Arariyo.
In the Bukshil Jugong apartment, everything remained just as it was.
A clean microwave, a new rice cooker, the shampoo Grandma used, and by the bedside, a verse from Jesus.
“I shall not be in want.”
My family began to gather the photo albums from the Bukshil house, one by one.
In them, the dead and the living are gathered together, forever.
2021년 6월 19일
긴 축도를 마치고 우리는 북실로 돌아갔다. 나는 내내 정선아리랑을 흥얼거렸다. 할머니는 평생의 북실도 잊었을까.
북실주공아파트에는 모든 것들이 온전히 있었다. 깨끗한 전자레인지, 새 전기밥솥, 냉장고 안 음식, 할머니가 쓰던 샴푸, 머리맡 예수님 말씀도.
내가 부족함이 없으리로다.
가족들은 북실리 집에 있는 사진첩들을 하나씩 챙겼다. 죽은 사람들과 산사람들이 영원히 함께 모여있다.
아라리
June 19, 2021
After finishing the long ritual, we returned to Bukshil.
I hummed Jeongseon Arirang the whole time.
Had Grandma forgotten Bukshil, the place where she'd spent her life?
Strangely and sadly, both Grandma and Grandpa suffered from the same illness.
With fragile memories, they seemed to be searching for a distant, forgotten love.
Like traversing Jeongseon's steep mountain paths, they searched beyond winding hills for their first love—
a love from a place where nothing had a name.
Arariyo.
In the Bukshil Jugong apartment, everything remained just as it was.
A clean microwave, a new rice cooker, the shampoo Grandma used, and by the bedside, a verse from Jesus.
“I shall not be in want.”
My family began to gather the photo albums from the Bukshil house, one by one.
In them, the dead and the living are gathered together, forever.
2021년 6월 19일
긴 축도를 마치고 우리는 북실로 돌아갔다. 나는 내내 정선아리랑을 흥얼거렸다. 할머니는 평생의 북실도 잊었을까.
북실주공아파트에는 모든 것들이 온전히 있었다. 깨끗한 전자레인지, 새 전기밥솥, 냉장고 안 음식, 할머니가 쓰던 샴푸, 머리맡 예수님 말씀도.
내가 부족함이 없으리로다.
가족들은 북실리 집에 있는 사진첩들을 하나씩 챙겼다. 죽은 사람들과 산사람들이 영원히 함께 모여있다.