Not My White Savior by Julayne Lee

Author:Julayne Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Published: 2018-02-07T00:13:41+00:00

Are You My Mother?

You demand my subway seat

because you are the elder

I stand to face you

notice familiar features

why do you look away?

do you recognize our resemblance?

can’t face your guilt?

You heckle me in Namdaemun market

your kimchi the best

recipe handed down for generations

it lives only in your heart

your nose curves like mine

you move on

customers wait ten deep

Your soju smile greets me

bow as I enter your Sinchon restaurant

laugh at my survival Korean

nod as I point to steaming dishes

on nearby tables

tear up as you watch

another adoptee television reunion

remember your sent away children

You ask if I’m Japanese

as I browse your Insadong gift shop

I ask in Korean

if you are Japanese

I tell you I’m adopted

discomfort traces your face

you bear the guilt

of an entire nation

We enter your Koreatown tofu shop

you ask How many? in Korean

switch to English

when you hear us speak

you assume I’m kyopo

I explain I was adopted

Aigu is all you can say

hand me a menu

walk away

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