The Ancestral Harmony of Family

Introduction
I have four mothers, birth, foster, foster, adoptive. First mother, unknown. Second mother, known, alive and well. Third mother, unknown, likely now gone on. Fourth mother, known, alive and well enough. Each of their lives, I carry in me. My wife and I made a life together, and she became the mother of my children, twice – a boy and a girl. With their births, my mothers became grandmothers. Near or far away, my children carry the echoes of their song within themselves.

One, two, three, four…
엄마 (Eomma), 어머니 (Eomeoni), 어머님 (Eomeonim), Mom
Four women, three here, two known, one gone
Silence, Known, Unknown, Present
A four-part harmony, a nurturing throng.

A melody begins, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do
A distant memory, in Seoul, Gyeonggi-Do
A beginning lyric, of which I do not know
The bridge comes early, to the verse flow
A 미래도 (milaedo), a future unknown
An ending, everyone knows

I leave her life, left behind
To another, who will become a mother
To another, who will become a mother
To yet another, who will become a mother

Her I leave to live my life

She, I find, and take a wife
She, I love and make our life
With she, we love, and make a life
With she, we love, and make life twice
Me, She, 아이 (Ai (Kid)) One, 아이 (Ai (Kid)) Two
Each of us, a melody
The four of us, a harmony

엄마 (Eomma), 어머니 (Eomeoni), 어머님 (Eomeonim), Mom
Now a four-part 할머니 (Halmeoni)