Every fall

Every fall (2024). Ink (bark lace relief print) and inkjet print on handmade paper, crayon gravestone rubbing on hanji, thread. 7.75 x 4.2 x 0.4” closed, 8.25” wide open. 16 leaves, hanji wrapper with bark lace print, variable edition of 3. 1/3: Cornell Library; 2/3: Collection of University of Illinois Urbana Main Library Special Collections; 3/3: lost by USPS.

Every fall

I’ve only gone one autumn in my life

but millions of families make the trip
each year

gathering to weed tidy

replace flowers

read names pray

remember ancestors, close
and distant.

Our burial site goes back centuries

24 generations

headstones and guard stones

scattered across the land

mounds of grassy dirt

at the nook in the highest hill

the old mausoleum is gone

the newest one where my parents may rest already houses four

박병숙
이강호
이원택
이선택

In harvest times of plenty, we recall

the soil to which we all return.