after Don Mee Choi

 

 

 

 

 

 

I missed the chance

to be a gook

in white pajamas

sleepwalking in daytime

some bodies’ legacy

my name written on rice paddies 

my footing stable

my constitution strong

 

No mention is made of international adoption

 

             a) Logical phase of westernization

             b) Logical symptom of globalization

             c) Logical conclusion of neocolonization

 

as a nominalization gone wrong

 

The gook I never got to be

wears white on the inside

blood ash of none

a farce

a foundling

a cat in a crater

riddled by babies

dropped from the sky

 

(cue aerial view of nation as womb)

                                                      bomb)

                                                       tomb)