The mother who was sorry her whole life
She could not dress or teach her children the way other mothers did, and standing before them made her feel like a sinner. Then, late in life, she wrote her past down and the life looked different. The mornings she cut her sleep short to cook and go out to work were, in memory, heartbreakingly bright. In-rye Kang, from the literacy class in Jeoksang, Muju, wrote this for the 2025 exhibition: born again, I would still want to be your mother.
Raising you, I only remembered what I could not give, and was always sorry. Now that I can read and write, I look back and see how hard I worked. If I were born again, I would want to be your mother.
— In-rye Kang (Jeoksang Literacy Class, Muju)
TODAY’S PRACTICE
Put down the guilt about not doing enough. The dawns and evenings you poured out are already in your children.
SOURCE
National Literacy Education Center · 2025 National Adult Literacy Poetry Exhibition, Spring Prize · In-rye Kang, Jeoksang Literacy Class, Muju
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