Ode to the Body in the Duman River by Meg Eden

Honorable Mention
​
Ode to the Body in the Duman River
 
after The Tollund Man
 
February 11, 2008, Tumen, China: The dead body of what appears to be a North Korean
refugee is found in the middle of the Duman River. It lies in the frozen shallows perhaps
20 yards from Chinese border and 10 from that of N. Korea.
-Chosun Media
 
Pieces of you
continue to remain
unclaimed: frozen hair bun,
mud-caked skirt
hiding Bible pages,
feet bare, shoes stolen.
From a distance you are
indistinguishable
from river stones.
Ten-thousand river,
how many more bodies
live here, undocumented?
So short: the distance
between hunger & living.
In my car, I can drive
through three states in one day,
my worst complaint: the tolls.
My McDonald’s bags,
crumpled on the floor.
If only something
of your urgency
should come to me
in this warm full house
where you are a window
I can choose to open
or close. Do not leave me
peaceful tonight. Out here
in suburbia, I forget
how lost I am
in all these good things.

 
Judges’ Comments – The sharp staccato pacing and the mix of contemporary words with timeless nature images made this poem unexpected and striking.  It stayed with me even as I read other pieces.  This poem moves with its juxtaposition of haves and have nots.  “So short: the distance/between hunger and living” anchoring the middle of the poem is the turning point to action.  If only… says it all.