gook/ghost

in korean, gook means soup

my favorite is flavored by ox bone

white, cloudy 

with ghosts

i feast on fossil and nameless

hecatomb

in korean, gook means nation

a soldier promised a whore 

she was his country

to fight for

and filled her stomach with

napalm balm and forgotten

daughters

in korean, migook is america

legend says

a soldier heard

“me, gook”

heard

“me, soup”

heard

“me, bone”

heard a yellow body name itself into a tooth

and brought it home to his wife

to wear as a pearl

mccain said, “i hate the gooks”

and i wonder if he meant the

bone or the broth

the body or the brothel

the ghost or the corpse

clouding a

nation

by JINHEE HEO