Comfort Women of WWII

Abstract

Comfort Women of WWII Maija Rhee Devine (bio) O, freedom from teeth, from looking like a doll.Hair? Until it grows white like green onion roots, sweethearts' vowsexcept Japanese "lovers" charged with swords, their war pants balloonedat thighs, ripped our undies, black night or moon. Hair? Crisp straw. Lips, moist at seventeen, now Youleather strips, quinoa-grain voice, erased lyric.Pants ballooned, "lovers" pistoned us, eclipse or moon.Am I lying? Leather lips, frog-voices, erased lyric. lyingThe entrance to a grave welcomes me.Did I get rich?Kings took slave women to their graves; I shall shed my men. The entrance to my grave, grave. whore!1Their boots stomped, swords clanged, seaweed dark or dawn.O, freedom from teeth, coy lips.Emperors took their women to eternity; I shall shed my men. [End Page 85] Maija Rhee Devine Maija Rhee Devine's (이매자's) autobiographical novel about Korea, The Voices of Heaven, won four awards. Her TEDx Talk on how the Korean-war-era stories told in the book relate to today's South Korean society is at: http://youtu.be/GFD-6JFLF5A. Her stories and poems have appeared in The Kenyon Review, North American Review, her chapbook, Long Walks on Short Days, and anthologies. Her short stories received Pushcart Prize nominations. Her nonfiction and fiction works-in-progress deal with 'comfort women' of WWII. Her full-volume poetry manuscript, Comfort Women And Pockmarked Moon, is being submitted for publication. Footnotes 1. The voices of Japanese conservatives slung at Korean "comfort women" visiting Japan on their trips to present testimonies of their lives as "comfort women" of WWII. Copyright © 2020 Pleiades and Pleiades Press