by Jooha R., 15
Sardined Souls
Compressed in silver tubes
The itchy folds of scales, a cascade of black and white,
stacked—frayed hems, loose threads, jackets bunched too tight
The salty sting of silence
seeps in through the sea of faces
eyes fixed but
never meeting
In this crowded silver tube, only our hearts have fled
We are left with a shell of a body and a forgotten tale
of how we chose to breathe with gills
when we weren’t even underwater
Sardined Seoul
They chose to breathe with gills
when they weren’t even underwater
Where streets pulse collectively
but hearts stay tethered chasing neon dreams under the faltering sky
The ground weakens under the weight of their desires scorching them with ruthless ambition
Soon to be swallowed by the city’s relentless tide
trailing together in a haze
lost in the waves of whispers and remarks
hearts remained far away
Sole S(e)oul
You see a sea of silver scales
glistening in perfect sync—
a tide of blurry faces
blending, shuf ling, fusing
But you don’t realize
how apart we are—
individual iridescent scales
glimmering in frenzied sync
Collectively headed yet individually treading
the gap between underwater and
ground zero
Seongnam-si, South Korea
Bridge Ink 