Art by Rita Crocker Words by Youn Soo Lee
In a train to Shinchon
Hmmm, Something smells burning.
It smells like rubber.
A boy with sneakers is sleeping with a dirty band on his arm.
They will come back again; pain and sorrow have always been coming back and going away.
But, also, images on a postcard.
Permanent like a ROCK at the bottom of The Ocean,
It can be stormy, rainy, the fact is, nothing moves it.
It brings its own disturbed peace.
The truth is, Argument is so tactless.
Stay silent, move, give this guy with widely opened legs some rest.
Hah, funny, he just took my seat.
I dream to take all guys on this train clothes off and see what they have.
A girl wearing Kill Heels on the passing billboard wears 3 watches, and her dizzy face can’t move.
Why would any woman be bothered with tying 3 watches on her arm?
Whoever’s idea that is, it’s a total failure. There are at least 5 men wearing ties on this train.
Let them come…
__________________________________________________________
Fly Away
Fly away with the moon
It’s gonna be 4 o’clock soon
They say it’s gonna be foggy this morning. Can I get there on time?
In this hospital room on the screen, Avatar is on the wall, Dear, it is
not the same Avatar we’ve seen
all together. “Yes, Dear, Roger and the misty girl were dancing and
singing in the UK Ambassador’s house.”
But The BELL is he gonna play it soon? Can I make it on
time?
Is he gonna make it through the white room? Lonesomeness
fed
his cancer but also it built his character.
I’ve seen his tears, tears,
they have never been washed away.
“Well, DEAR, you got a handkerchief
Stand up and walk away from me
I am too tired to talk to you now.”
Calm down
Faces and names give heart attacks.
When I saw the name, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
A real fuck up has no respect especially with their own life.
A real fuck up only worships their own kind but they can’t be even true with that.
What about all those waving flags? Can’t they see what it means?
The bridge on the picture is clear but the water dirty.
Some say “No No it’s clean. We are not China!” I say, “You fucked up.”
Shame on you, you even couldn’t hold your own name and then change it, You
even have been running away from where you are from, that’s why you are living in the small jungle.
Is it still warm there? Hah, it is getting to hot hot hot summer.
At least, you probably have a fan there? Wish you the best not to see any rats. They’re fucked up to.
Poor little thing, you are not anything even if you swim in the ocean,
all oceans you’ve crossed taught you nothing. Bet you fuck up drowning to.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
This is Youn Soo Lee’s third set of poems for The Three Wise Monkeys
Rita Crocker grew up in Dallas, TX, and earned a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006. From 2004-2005 she studied at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. In 2008, she received her MFA in Painting with a Certificate in Graphic Design from the University of Pennsylvania. She now lives and works in Seoul.
