Sean Cho A.

Grad school boy

It’s astonishing to think of how far I would go
for money. For example, if you and I were
to move to Busan and open an old school malt shop,
people would be whispering naïve,
but if I were to move to New York to work
in that publishing house that rhymes with
Penguin people would use words like motivated
or has things going for him. Most of my old friends
talk about college in past tense,
and it’s really hard to explain what
a workshop is and why it is productive.
My grandfather took a trip to the redwoods

and sent me a photo of tree bark and said,
“I made it!” I texted back “That’s just a tree”
and then he called me, and I listened to birds
chirping as he reassured me of his location
and my life choices.