개꿈
아빠 Appa
Like a flapping dream
you are the wind
I could not polish
Your black hair, cawing
to cigarette smoke—
the breath
of paper bodies
In the cloud’s wet mouth
you are a bony
celebration! Before you sleep
you tell me the word for snow
is “eyes”
Glossary:
개꿈 (pronounced “gaekkum”) is Korean for “dog dream.” In Korean culture, a “dog dream” is a dream without special meaning or content.
아빠 (pronounced “appa”) is Korean for “dad.”

Angela Sim (she/her) is a Korean American writer with work forthcoming or published in Frontier Poetry, ANMLY, Hobart, Scapegoat Review and more. She attends George Mason University and is in her senior year of pursuing a BA degree in English.