Ajossi, your breath smells
Just like the other ajossi
Soju and stale cigarettes
On a Sunday evening
After a game in the park
And you bump into me
Not caring, eyes on the seat
You'll steal from the child
As soon as it gets off the subway.
You eye me with contempt
At least your left eye does
And you bump into me a little
Harder before the train hits its
Next turn which would pull you
Away from me.
I heard a child call my name the
Other day, playing in the dirt
In front of its house
"Ajossi!" it called and I looked
Around for you, the older man
With a smile that emerges from
Between crinkled lips.
But no one was there
On that darkened street
Where the lamps had burned out
And the shopkeepers had turned in -
No one except the moon and me -
And so when I turned into the moonlight
I saw nothing but the moon above
And shadow below.
The moon rides above us now
Not knowing the hiss of this train
As it pulls in to Cheongnyangni
And you take the child's seat
Pushing her out of the way
Before she gets off the train
Falling on a woman's shoulder
You drift into night -
Ajossi.
