Autumn in Korea

Fade in place awayRain turn to mist in warm touchPhoto glowing giftsNo buried king’s goldMore treasured than you burningA face … More

What Happens in Busan

Whenever I saw the ad, I’d wonder what would stay thereAdultery, drugs, murder – what threshold needed to be metHow … More

Communion

In a cave here, on a mountaintop thereKorea lives in me by bits and piecesBite-sized chunks I can drink inMelts … More

DMZ

The sounds of over there is ‘them’ and here is ‘us’Ghosts hear as if they were the honoring of some … More

Bedazzled

In eyes I see here, my ancestors’ gaze cast by manyThere’s a hardness of a kind I can’t quite identifyAnd … More

The Bulb That Bonds

When I’m here, I love the taste and smell of garlic more than usualWill chew it even in the morning, … More

Jogyesa Temple, Insadong, Seoul 10.22.24

Before breakfast, I cross the street outside my hotelTo visit the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple People of all ages and economic … More

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

Let There Be Peace on Earth

Five consonants and three vowelsCombine to create 28 charactersThe Korean alphabet“Hangeul”A simplified writing system for the peopleIts ease of comprehensionPromotes … More

Heritage Song

We Koreans converge on Hawai‘i Theatre tonight,all bows and the scent of garlic-laced dinners, lots of quick head nods and Annyeong … More

Everything Is Connected

I sit listening to the ocean lap as the sun rises from the east,follow its crawl up the sky from … More

The 38th Parallel

I’m standing next to my Uncle Wonnie.  He’s peering through a viewing slot in the bunker.  The opening is about six inches, … More

Going Home

The first time I visited Korea, at age 65, I dropped out of the sky,a stranger in a strange land, catapulted … More

For a Moment

They’re all young, blonde university students,have an intelligent look, wear sweatshirts,NYU, Brown, Syracuse, places that requireacademic effort prior to entry, … More

Traditional Change

It’s billed as A Match Made in Heaven, a revered traditional Korean love storycarried down from a bygone age to … More

Hand in Glove

Korea’s a glove, the fingerless kind.A palm rests snug in it, the half warm, half clean, partprotected from the elements, … More

The Myth of Every Hope Fulfilled

From the top of the Gwangbok Lotte Department StoreI can see the Yeongdo(daegyo) Draw Bridge crossing Busan Harbor.From this height, … More

Man Beats Mail, No Charges Pending

The mail I sent to myself from Koreacame to Hawai‘i slower than I’d guessed.I am no longer there, I’m now … More

When Vacations End

Back from Korea,I realize to my horrorwhen I wake up,dizzy from jet-lag,that I have to cook for myself.Breakfastand lunchand dinner.All … More

War Story

On Jeju Island we travel rough backroads on our small bus,bumping along narrowly through perfectly planted fields,row on row of … More