“Brother Pak,” New Era, Aug. 1982, 23
Brother Pak
We stand at the bus station
And I try to get one last good look at you—
Black hair, smooth brown skin, black eyes, and
that
funny, flat nose.
And though we stand but a few feet apart,
We are a culture apart;
We’re distant—
as far from east to west
and back again.
So far.
And yet
We are so near—
You were baptized today and now
we’re brothers in the same family,
So close, now.
And as I look at you
(remembering how hard we all worked to
reach this day),
I want to
Hug you—
But don’t
Because I know in the Orient, that’s not exactly
proper in public.
So I’ll love you from a few feet’s distance,
Knowing and wanting to tell you so much
more—
Wanting to remind you of the truths we
have studied together,
Wanting to tell you what it really meant today
as
the blue ocean gently swallowed you.
See, even now the saltiness clings to my skin,
as you will to my memory for a long time to
come.
So shake hands now, the bus is boarding.
We may never see each other again,
But, as you know
We can …
Photo by Wendy Chan
Illustrated by José Ortega