First Korean Experience

First Korean Experience for Poets Place

First Trip to Korea

When I first went to Korea
Almost 45 years ago
It was a very alien place.
An overwhelming experience,
I entered a hot, humid, sauna.
The smells were intense
The food was spicy
filled with passionate heat.

chaotic
cacophonous
discordant sounds
filled the air.

the language sounded
like everyone was screaming.

Taxis honking, cars barking.
People screeching
Loudspeakers blaring
Sirens blasting the air.

Millions of strange people
Military police everywhere
With guns watching everyone.

I felt I was a stranger in a strange land
Everyone speaking
A weird language
I did not understand anything.

Over time I got used to it
The smells became normal
The food was now delicious .

The sounds less chaotic
Less cacophonous
Less discordant
I even eventually learned
How to speak the weird language.

I fell in love with this strange place
Which became my second home
And now I live there half the time
And half the time in the United States

Neither here nor there
Am I really here
But I remain a true stranger
In a still strange land.