to estimate one’s position
without instruments
or celestial observations
calculating direction and distance
traveled from the last known fix
while accounting for tides, currents, grief
drift numbness
sudden storms of pain
unexpected joy
to reckon is to believe
something true
to reckon with the dead
is to believe I can know them
an airy thinness
gleaming
despite
the distance
traveled
I’d like to know how far
I’ve gone
how much farther there is
to go how absence
unfathomable
becomes
something I can carry
Copyright © 2024 by Hyejung Kook. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 16, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.