Abecedarian for Returning Home

Solly Woo, South Korea

along the road, there are cherry blossoms trees

because April is closer and you’ve returned.

cacophony of familiar voices clutching your body

did you stop watching the news after you left?

everyone is falling asleep to routine and half light now

forget that last time you were here you were seven

google if your favorite convenience store is still

here, despite everything turning over and you thinking

I have outgrown this city, but memories still echo inside

just return every spring to rest your body.

keep the letters you once wrote in the guest bedroom

love everything even the long trip home, where you

mull over the words embedded in your shadow

note that everything will seem closer than it really is.

open the windows

pour yourself your favorite peach juice, and

quote your cousin whenever you say your nickname.

read your favorite short story and memorise it again.

say everything like you’re going to say it for the last time

tell your parents thank you for the soup, for the warm bed. because once

under the moon, the sky will wither, stars dispersed on skin &

we will stay beautiful and young, remembering

xenial lines someone once uttered &

you’ll return again, again, again, each time

zooming into the spaces that crave your light.

Solly Woo is a young writer based in South Korea. Her work has been published/forthcoming in manywor(l)ds, Paper Crane Journal, Young Writer's Journal and more. In her free time, she enjoys learning languages and taking photographs.