Korean school
means bad perms
and rice-themed lunches
and crazy boys and girls

we can slip into lighter
shoes and walk in mud
squint our narrow eyes
as much as we want instead
of trying to keep them
wide and blue

we are all
fresh off the boat
because actually we hate
wonder-bread and
baloney
we like egg rolls
and crisps that smell
like our mother’s hands
and sesame oil

we are
the same
there is no danger
no perhaps
no in betweens
because we all know
the joy of
creeping in the faded halls
shouting insults in a
softer tongue

we are
fresh off the boat
but secretly we are still in
it because every time we look up
at american sky we
wonder why we came.