락 하다

on the verge of happening

-ㄹ락 말락 하다 is hovering right on the edge: about to rain but not raining, just about to drop into a dream, a toenail nearly coming off. Paired with an opposite verb it becomes going back and forth — 오르락 내리락 하다, up and down, which one line says life always does. A few lines here are not this pattern at all, just sound words that happen to end the same way.

Register: casual, vivid