Again and Again

I saw him and I let go
of all my preconceptions.
Wailing sirens, warning lights,
I pushed down with dislike.

I thought I was being
truthful. I wanted it to be
him and me, alone, up against
the unforgiving wall. Hold him…

but a light, a light
in his eye, flickers.
Slowly, he lets go
of me, his mind
on the woman who is  
waiting for him at home,
looking at the moon.

I sit here with my head
in my hands, watching
him slip away like
an impossible fish.

Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han currently lives in Seoul where she’s a poet, teacher, and author of Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips. She has received awards from “Boston in 100 Words,” Valiant Scribe, and The Lyric Magazine, and earned her M.F.A. in Poetry and Translation from Emerson College.