it's funny—

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 1:9, ESV[1]

i let my ephemeral dreams consume me
like my father lets Hennessy consume him.
it's funny—
how i see the grand-minuscule of American Dream
and still hopelessly chase it.

i dream of a red tractor, a green field where
i could build a small Eden by my grandma's minari.
it's funny—
how her barn burning pulled me closer to my family
more than God ever could.

i pray for myself. i pray for my lover.
i pray for my family. i pray for my generations.
it's funny—
how each generation kneels to God for forgiveness
yet still suffers the same sins.

i read History to try to understand her.
she says, "History has failed us, but no matter."[2]
it's funny—
how History's atrocities repeat
like my sins under God's eye.

Notes

1. Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, with the 2025 ESV text edition cited in the original page.
2. Min Jin Lee, Pachinko: "History has failed us, but no matter."