Poem of the Month: September 2007

The Past

I have supposed my past is part of myself.
As my shadow appears whenever I'm in the sun
the past cannot be thrown off and its weight
must be borne, or I will become another man.

But I saw someone wall his past into a garden
whose produce is always in fashion.
If you enter his property without permission
he will welcome you with a watchdog or a gun.

I saw someone set up his past as a harbor.
Wherever it sails, his boat is safe--
If a storm comes, he can always head for home.
His voyage is the adventure of a kite.

I saw someone drop his past like trash.
He burned it and shed it altogether.
He has shown me that without the past
one can also move ahead and get somewhere.

Like a shroud my past surrounds me,
but I will cut it and stitch it,
to make good shoes with it,
shoes that fit my feet.

--Ha Jin

Journal prompts:

• Have you ever wanted to "drop your past like trash; shed it altogether"? Write that story.
• Write about a time when the past taught you a life lesson.
  
• Develop a metaphor for your past (a garden, a harbor, trash, good shoes). Write about what is evoked in you by the metaphor.
  
• How can your past be used to inform your future?
  

Thanks to my Abnormal Psychology Online student Ann Guido for this month's poem and prompts!