Midnight in Itaewon

   


Midnight in Itaewon


They lay there scattered, like curled leaves,
up and down the endless flights of stairs.
No blood, no crushed dismemberment, no
trampling or struggle-tidy ash-coloured
faces in quiet repose, hoping for rescue
while calmly awaiting instruction.

A charred shoe remains from one young
woman who made a frantic phone call in a
smoky train car. The doors are locked, she
cried to her husband as she rested her head
on warm glass, tearing her stocking on
the fire extinguisher beneath her seat.



Midnight in Itaewon
by Teresa Dunat Banks


NOTES:

Appeared in the chapbook,
Resident Alien
May 2007.

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