Border Body
       

"After the Korean war they split my country in half. Russia got top half and U.S. got bottom.
China saved North Korea after Korean War, and South Korea became Western," dad says.

Western like my grandpa's favorite show, Bonanza, and Lorne Greene singing

"We chased lady luck, 'til we finally struck Bonanza. With a gun and a rope and a hat full of
hope, planted a family tree

on this land we put our brand."

land for the

Western white boy from Home Ec who refused to look me in the eye unless his teeth were
showing—white teeth pursed silence then eruption of

"Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these!"

"I'm about as Chinese as you are, white boy," but my mind saying

I'm about as confused.

I scavenge for my thoughts before China, North Korea, Japan,

I stare into my empty, lined hands for
evidence of a kinship.

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Copyright © 2022 Joey S. Kim All rights reserved
from Body Facts
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