The Same Language

It’s good to be back in KoreaA third time as charming as the firstLet the magic beginIn the fatherland I’m … More

Of the Brave

I have two American flagsBoth tucked up tight in black framesTriangular shaped to hold them foldedBut still recognizably red, white, … More

An elderly gentleman beams red-facedNeatly bearded and dressed in a black tuxedoHe stands in the park feeding birdsBehind the Wells … More

My maternal grandmother often went to Queen’s SurfWhere she’d sit and feed the birds They recognized her and would flock … More

It’s a big family reunion party, and I’ve not seen a lot of my relatives since I was a kid. The crowd … More

It was the conversation Mr. and Mrs. Kakesako had dreaded having. Well, the one they’d dreaded having would have been … More

“Gramma, come on. Next stop Zippy’s.” Sometimes I can’t believe I’m still alive to hear this. Every year, the same … More

Sometimes my maternal grandmother visits me,I’ll come awake gradually, know she’s sitting there,silent guardian at the foot of my bed, … More

I was born in a land of English speakers,where parents believed speaking Englishwas the key to success. My father was … More

Chris is meeting this grandmother and grandfather, Al and Sarah, for the first time. This is also the first time he’s … More

He wasn’t a mean man. The lack of emotion that everyone saw in him, was just that. He no longer … More

It’s an old turntable with a speaker horn, the kind you wind up,what my grandmother used to call a Victrola,even … More

At my house, growing up, we had the Big Knife. I don’t know if it was the same at your … More

Mrs. Cho’s gift was guiding spirits to the afterlife. People who knew about her ability – and this was all … More

“I want the red one,” said the little girl, pointing to it. Mr. Watanabe looked at it. Then at the other colors. All … More

She was having a hard time going to sleep, maybe fear of the dark and all those kinds of trauma … More