Jang Hyun Kim Poet Free verse

The Valley of Shadows

I walked through the valley of darkness.
How breathtakingly beautiful it was.

Gaze of birds watching over me,
I draw a veil molded in ocher clay.

I walked holding my breath.

Unseen, the ticking sound of unseen birds,
I walked through that valley of darkness,
Drawing yet another veil.

I do not pray.
At least not in this moment.

Though my body is feminine,
Inheriting the wild instincts of a seven-generation cat,

Before a swarm of cockroaches can infect me in an instant,
I sense it beforehand and let out a fierce roar.
"Meow!" "Hssss!"

Why, you ask?

The life of the slum
Always cries out,

Even within its depths,
Building its own cruel pyramid,
To attack me—
Someone they deem even less than themselves.

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Alison A Smith nee Howarth August 23, 2026 at 11:34 PM A haunting, fiercely original free-verse poem. The recurring walk through the valley of darkness creates an almost ritual atmosphere, while the ocher veils, watchful birds, and ancestral cat-instincts build a vivid, surreal inner landscape. The final image of life in the slum turning upon those made most vulnerable is deeply confronting and powerfully rendered.