There was once a man with golden eyes who wrote golden words. He sang with a golden voice and gave us golden smiles. We loved him, this man of gold. We loved him for the happiness he gave us, for the tears he brought to our eyes. We loved him for the questions he raised in our minds and the answers he offered in turn. We loved him from a distance. We were lucky the man loved us back, with vigour, with rage. He threw his gold at us, shed himself until he was reduced to a whisper. And when we look now we still see the footsteps he left behind. We hoped our love was enough; that when it lapped at his knees it colored him in our affection. That when he waded through it, it left a stain that he couldn’t wash off. We loved him a lot.
We loved him too much. The man began to drown.
The raft was snatched away. The floats were out of reach. There was no land in sight. Everywhere he looked there was no help to be found. “It’s your personality,” the lifeguard said to him from the shore. “It’s your fault.”
We loved him too much. We didn’t love him enough.
There was once a man with a heart of gold. He was here then. He isn’t here now. We send him off to safer waters, his pyre burning higher than the skies, our sea of love roiling with tears. There was once a man of gold. We miss him.
수고했어요. 정말 고생했어요.
