The Mailman < by Yearn Choi >

The Mailman

The war ceased in 1953 after three years.

Soldiers are still guarding the 155-mile demilitarized zone

along the barbed wire on both sides.

Deer and other wildlife are dying from stepping on the man-made mines.

Seasonal birds are resting and looking for food

in the no-man’s land of 50 some years.

Those who were kidnapped and sent to the North have died there

without a postcard to their families in the South.

No one outside Korea knows this sad story that Korea is still divided and

forbidden to exchange letters between two Koreas and to visit relatives

since 1945. Cold War was over in 1990, but the war is still going on a small peninsula.

Picasso’s dove is carrying one green leaf on its beak.

That dove flying over the sky of the demilitarized zone

is carrying one postcard from the North to the South

that was written by the dead man unknown for years.