My Seoul

My Seoul, 24/7, 365, even though I’m here,
I’m always there
In my Seoul, always together with my people,
Our shared look, the pulse of our shared blood,
All relatives, every one of us, unknown to each other,
But all known, all understood, unsaid to be
By all of us who walk the city together,
Our living family and the ones who’ve passed,
The living and the dead not touching,
but always holding hands,
Speak and hear our common language
I don’t understand but do,
See buildings our grandparents saw
Built and being built, just as we now see
Those coming up we may never see finished.
That perpetual grill smoke, we eat the same street food,
our grandparents ate, those same recipes,
Tasting of history, taste of generations
Passed down to be passed down.
Even though I’m here, I’m always there.
In my Seoul, 24/7.
In my Seoul, 365.