Kate Choi

Jinju Convenience Store, 2023

I don’t want to talk about history.
Yes, I’ve heard how our women
leapt to their death rather than face
the soldiers. Yes, I’ve heard how you told
the tale: fluttering silk and the word
virgin repeated like rhythm. You like us
limp. You like us see-through. You like us
—I’ll say it—dead. Flowers to press.
Which is worse: the dream of burning,
or burning anyway? You wrapped our
skirts in shame, and so we unfurled.
We say asphyxiation and you hear
skin skin skin. As hair is shorn, so is
womanhood, stretching skin over
ribs, a half-crushed ladder. So, go
on: tell yourself the petals are just
that. Hold yourself as you will.

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Kate Choi is a creative writer from Seoul, South Korea. An alumna of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio, Kenyon Young Writers Workshop and Adroit Summer Mentorship, her work is published or forthcoming in Rust & Moth, ONEART and manywor(l)ds. Her work has been recognized by Polyphony Lit, Marginalia Poetry Contest, the NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing, Aster Lit and more. She works as a poetry reader for Ploughshares, wildscape, and Twin Bird Review. You can find her online at katechoi.carrd.co.