Hibiscus petals falling – South Korea
puts her son on a plane for East Sussex,
you are the generations of family moving forward,
a strong brown river. Junmo’s mouth is numb.

All around the boy is the rabble
of boarding school noise, they are the young
of wealthy aspiration, inheritors of the earth.

He is three months silent.
His numbness is extreme and perfect.
As they try to speak to him the pine tree
on the mountain stands unchanged.

At night he is a soldier, by the light
of his computer screen.
Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson moving
behind enemy lines. Thumbs moving
his mind through intrigue and heroics.

Language melts as wind and frost are blown away,
Roses of Sharon bloom as he moves
to northern quarters. Arms folded to keep his heart in.
A piecemeal plan:
sell hats,
make money,
buy a three bedroom house.

Around him is the random noise of shoppers,
students, goths and new emos with their mums.
How will he inherit the earth?

In the end it’s his breeding,
a simple act of belief passed on,
a seed to a flower, the simplest thing.

He would like someone to speak to him,
though he can’t quite meet someone’s eyes.
Saturday is the busiest day,
selling hats and leather bound journals.
At night he is a soldier, his thumbs on the controller.