I ADMIT by YONGBO MA

Image | Saqlain Mustaq

I Admit 

I admit, I came to this world to suffer,

but it will never compare to the pain you endure.

I admit, I always live

within the unhealed wounds beneath your ribs,

with eyes that open in your blood, not innocent.

I admit, you've granted me eternal blessings,

yet I still gaze at every window emitting light,

Though there may be filled with unease grey.

I admit, I will ultimately return as a glorified angel,

yet still covet the splendor of earthly things.

I admit, I have not finished this beautiful fight,

yet I yearn in fatal fatigue

to return to your throne, under your wings.

I admit, life is an adventure,

yet I often hesitate, fearing to leap into the darkness.

I admit, I bear a secret and noble mission,

yet often don't know the path I tread.

I admit, you are with me

by the waning fireside,

in the morning mist, in the empty square,

in the fierce silence of midnight,

in every word that comes from the sky.

I admit, you dwell within the temple of my body,

yet I still fail to cherish myself.

I admit, you and I weep together, endure pain, and rejoice

in the crowds, in the valleys, at the ends of the earth.

You protect me, comfort me, I admit.

I've journeyed with you through trials and cosmic changes.

I admit, I will die, so you may thrive.

© Yongbo Ma

Yongbo Ma was born in 1964. He has a PhD and is a translator, editor, and leading scholar of postmodern poetry. He has authored or translated more than 80 published books. Ma is a professor in the Faculty of Arts and Literature at Nanjing University of Science and Technology. His translations from English include works by Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, W.C.Williams, John Ashbery, Herman Melville and others. You can follow him on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093276516900.

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