Reflections On Solitude

 

For many -

Korea is 

backward,

cluttered,

dirty.

They don't understand

that these things 

are not to be pitied.

They are glorious

they are beautiful.

They do not know

what it takes,

to build something

from nothing.

They have not slept 

on the floors.

Nor carried their 

groceries home

on their backs.

They do not know 

what it takes

to stare at the empty land

and see a future

for their children.

It offends me.

To watch hard work mocked.

To hear dignity laughed at.

To see sacrifice reviled.

By those whose

hands and minds are soft

and fragile like snow.

It is an insult

Korea reflects my life
and each insult
is an insult
to me.

It is why

I travel

alone.

I need the space

to love freely

these things

that built me.