The Sun is Not Kind
Updated: Mar 12
1.
They said there was a suicide on Gajwa Road, and now it’s haunted.
Hwangeum Street is empty.
If you want silence, you can go to Gwanak District,
but that’s too far.
2.
Jieun Kim from apartment 113
hitchhiked on a dream,
the fleeting midnight KORAIL. She left with
skinny arms,
in a gingham skirt
but came home with a broken wrist
to match her heart.
Maybe in another life,
the train would slow for her
and she would stay.
3.
Seohyun moved back in 2001.
She brought us plastic dolls and made-up stories.
She said it felt weird here, after seeing bigger and better.
Said it felt
lonely.
I thought she was right.
4.
“Please keep off of the train tracks.”
The speakers scream,
monotone.
A pudgy, wide-eyed little girl steps
behind the yellow caution tape.
“Officials are on their way.”
It’s rush hour.
The girl begins to cry and the deaf man