English is arrogant

words spat out like glorious dollars 

SHOW OFF SHOW OFF

“완전히 미국놈 다 됐네!” they say—

You’ve become completely American!

like Gucci bags ajummas love to brag

take a picture!

take a picture!

here’s my one-way ticket to

Capitalist Cornucopia! 

“촌티나게,” I mutter—

Tacky.

English is arrogant

native kids jeering at me 

“You sound like a FOB!” they scream—

An imperfect performance of 

never

quite 

becoming 

(               ).

Becoming is also forgetting

you, also, came from another 

somewhere

a tongue lost in you

I mourn for you.

English is arrogan—

카톡! KATTOK

English is arrog—

카톡! KATTOK

A friend interrupts with a message

A chingu from a time when English was mere—

akjdsghfajkdsagnksdfhkdrfeifyixdk

As I pick up the phone,

I hear the static across the ocean 

in his Busan satoori, he asks—

“밥 먹었나?”

Did you eat?

“응.” I say. 

Yes.

and in his words

I hear another self speak,

A tongue of another home

buried 

beneath.

Glossary

KATTOK - the ringtone sound of a popular Korean messaging app, Kakaotalk. 

Ajumma - middle-aged Korean woman

Satoori - Korean regional dialect

Chingu - friend

FOB - a slang term for recent immigrants short for “fresh off the boat” 

Biography

Seung-Hyun Chung is a Busan-born writer, performer, and interpreter (Korean, Japanese, English) based in Los Angeles. These days, he is struggling well.