Juheon Rhee
Cleaning Out My Childhood
behind the pecan closet
tattered with out-of-place stickers
was an alcove
the ripped dusty curtains
hiding the magical place
small and compacted
full of dust
our apartment’s unknown
lost and found
small trinkets
like useless keychains and rubber bands
to those essential items
that were searched for ages
only to be bought again
a broken bb gun
and keys
to those rip-off diaries that never worked
and full of korean books
로마인 이야기
a book about a roman man who fell in love with a Japanese woman
which I could not read then
and now I can not find anymore
from the little window on the left
staring at our neighbors house
i could often see
a lady, Mrs. Jang
with graying hair
and a bent strained back
leaving at seven in the morning, kimchi and banchan wrapped
in cloth covered with phone numbers of 참례 church
to come back twelve hours after with it the same cloth
but empty
a perpetual cycle it seemed
but one day
Mrs. Jang was no longer up at 7am
and my parents packed their bags and cleaned the alcove
broke me off from such
ferris wheel
booked a plane
to the Philippines
Juheon (Julie) Rhee is a 13-year-old student and at International School Manila. During her free time, she enjoys reading Agatha Christie novels and hanging out with her friends. Her work has appeared in K’in Literary Journal and has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
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