Spring’s sunlight warms my face.

Laying in my grandma’s lap

She sings me a tune

“할머니 손은 약손”

“Halmeoni sohn eun yak sohn”

Grandma’s hand is a medicine hand.

 

Gently rubbing my belly

Wishing away the pain

For her dear granddaughter.

Tender touch filled with 

So much love.

 

Many springs later

Her hair–

A little grayer.

Her smile–

A little more wrinkled.

 

She complains of her feet swelling up.

Painful acid reflux.

Refuses to eat.

Less energy by the day.

More visits to the hospital.

 

“I feel like I’m going to die”

No. Don’t say that.

“When I die…”

Please. Stop.

I feel powerless.

 

You traded your life for me.

Isolated in a foreign land, away from all that you knew

“Because the children deserve a mother”

I grasp at any hope,

Desperate for more time with you.

 

Tears warm my face.

Can I wish your pain away?

Why couldn’t it be

Granddaughter’s hand is a medicine hand?

It hurts.