Korean Air Bibimbap

Korean Air Bibimbap
Yong Wan Choi 01.08.08

In days gone by, when we ate hunger mixed with tears,
I longed for plain rice with kimchi and sesame oil
beyond the window, drifting clouds leave home and float away
after long years of circling, now
seated in a cramped chair flying through the sky
I am served a bibimbap tray set out without shame
stirring rice with greens and seasoning, whirling wooden chopsticks,
a perfect meal, each spoonful full of Mother's touch, whetting the appetite
laughter on a hungry journey, tears welling at the fire of gochujang
yellow, white, and black strange faces sit freely mixed together
blending the ideas that crowd their heads into a database
in the marketplace of the internet, both cheeks stuffed full,
they eat with gusto, as merchants make off with their share
the explosive flavor of our kimchi, seizing and shaking the blue void,
drives its struggle to battlefields spreading beyond the horizon
waking the stillness of the whole world drawing near to tomorrow
it draws one crisp white line of cloud across the clear sky