I sometimes wish I could walk
through hallways in the dark.
Every corridor in Korea is tripped by sensors
That know my every move.
I want to see what cannot be seen with
These “circle eyes,” as little Leigh said.
She could not stop fixating on them, so fascinated,
Too impossible to comprehend.
I am not “you and yours,”
No matter how much I may or may not want to be.
My quarters are a sovereign American nation
Population of One
Where kimchi somehow spoils faster,
An amazing feat since it’s already rotting.
It’s what I had wanted, a way to get away
My body abroad, while my heart remained stateside.
But, I now delight in the differences
That once scared the shit out of me.
All I want is more, weirder and weirder.
But what is weird, if only different?
What is there beyond my borders
Beyond the balcony where I venture to view
Into so many apartment boxes?
I promise this is no Peeping Tom,
A reference no doubt lost on you,
As so many of yours would be lost on me.
For that, I cannot help but apologize,
Though I don’t know why.
It’s just that I long to look inside your world
Like going to the past, not just photos and film,
But walking your ancient steps as if they were mine.
Such an impossible world,
like giving birth,
an impossible wish.