timeline

Timeline

Nothing really happened
Native houses, all in rows
Artists cry, their tears are lovely
A man’s gotta do what…

Native houses all in rows
Look, it’s for their own good
A man’s gotta do what…
Dying somehow
     
Look, it’s for their own good
We learn from our mistakes
Dying somehow
You gotta fight for your right to party

We learn from our mistakes
Sorry this had to happen
You gotta fight for your right to party
What were we supposed to do?

Sorry this had to happen
Artists cry, their tears are lovely
What were we supposed to do?
Nothing really happened.

Korean Lessons

Korean Lessons

all i do is mouth
yes, show
proper respect
in the appropriate space -
strain against words
not mine. loving
these parents
like my own
i can never tell them
a hot block of speech sticks
in my throat, they’re
not my words.
i bow, shake hands, nod
mutely, watch distance
grow greater, the tour
coach slowly pull

away

from our friends, from our drinks, from the pub, drunken hands clutch a soft, warm waist. up against a wall my slurred korean shoots out rich, sharp and strong. strangers made known by gin and beer, we clasp our spaces together, fuse our understandings. our thrusts and parries in and out of parks, pants, and occupied bedrooms stumble through the growing morning. finally, repulsed, cursing fluently i stagger away