my father

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with a header reading "9.12.2025". The page is predominantly painted over with a gradient of blue, peach, red, and gold marker. Various images have been collaged across the obscured parts of the text. Select words and phrases have been left uncovered, creating a new poetic message against the colorful background.

By Bitua Ryu

my father with a look of
despair,
retired to our house
shut the gates

I was now free.

I left to pursue

peace

I was tempted to

love

I wept bitterly, and wished

hope.
I lived in fear,

all was not over

I wished to extinguish that life
When I reflected on my
pilgrimage