The Masters, and: Through The DMZ

Abstract: A brother reflects on his sister's death through a late-night encounter with grief, shame, and the undertakers' impersonal efficiency. As images of televised intimacy contrast with the cold handling of the body, the speaker confronts guilt, propriety, and the uneasy boundary between life and death. From postwar Korea to immigrant life in America, the poem traces a journey from hunger to hope. Through memories of "pig-bowl soup" and powdered milk, the speaker reflects on survival, longing, and the enduring belief that work, family, or even movies might offer renewal amid uncertainty.