Li-Young Lee's poem contemplates the interconnectedness of life, death, and love, expressing the profound mourning and affection tied to personal and collective history. Through the imagery of kisses, the poem juxtaposes beginnings and endings, evoking the cyclical violence of the world and the innocent suffering that accompanies it. It also reflects on a motherâs nurturing role amid anguish, revealing how love transcends time and connects through longing. This poignant meditation captures the essence of human experience, emphasizing the significance of love amid tragedy and the search for meaning.
Because to God must be given the things that belong to God, and to the world must be given the things that belong to the world, I kiss you with both lips, upper and lower.
It's like you kissing my mouth to seal my mouth. Like you kissing my mouth to open my mouth. What's the difference between these kisses?
When we kiss, when the upper and lower in me meet the upper and lower in you...an infinite longing moving over the face of the deep.
I kiss you thus, because the world ended with my mother walking among the slaughtered to find her own.
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