be(longing)
Photo by Zoya Hsiao I wrote this poem while I was an ETA on Jeju in the winter of 2016. I was in the bout of severe homesickness, experiencing snow for the first time and missing my sunny Southern California life. This reflects the period I went through before adjustment—realizing that I didn’t fit in or feel comfortable and not yet seeing a way beyond those feelings. Spoiler alert: things did get better (after a while). be(longing) in this bedroom that is not my own, my clothes are bundled in cubby holes resembling the goodwill pile i left in LA. wet clothes hung inside, a clinging funk bearing no resemblance to the florals of home. the windows open to more windows, not blue sky over mountains and palm trees. i can take a bus to see camellias bloom, but in LA, the flowers blossom beneath my window, reminding me of my coming birthday. a shelf and a half feels crowded and burdensome in this bathroom i still don’t recognize. i keep forgetting where the clippers are, my nails dig painfully into the toes of my shoes. even my body begins to feel foreign, expanding and reshaping itself, what i consume beyond my control. no solace in skin or mind. at least the fact of a choice in this— to board the plane, the bus, the elevator to the apartment door— is mine. Maggie Deagon was a 2016 – 2017 ETA at Jeju Jungang Girls High School in Jeju City. When she is not writing poems about lost love, she is chronicling her wandering food adventures at femalegraze.food.blog.
Two Poems
By Robert Cavaluzzi, a first-year ETA in Jeonju Melissa Kukowski, “Gardens by the Bay,” Singapore Chewing You are sunken treasure Riddled with teeth marks In the shape of the small pieces That you give of yourself To everyone else Bamboo Bamboo in mirrors, reflects: Vibrant Greens Envying colorblindness In hopes of growing taller
Jewels
By Pel Doski, a first-year ETA in Docheon, Changnyeong Zoya Hsiao, “Chaos Central,” Gimhae I’ve got gems Sparkling in pairs before me, With bright brilliancy. They follow me in groups, Always calling out my name, Shimmering even in rain. They twinkle like stars, Reflect the brightest of rainbows, Even when it snows. They shine like the sun, And illuminate shadows far away, Especially whenever they say, Good morning Teacher