there’s something so primal in how safe and held I feel in the hot tub section of a jimjilbang.
it makes me feel connected to something seemingly small and fleeting and yet so much bigger than myself, starting from long before I was here.
hot spring.
sitting, looking, being.
washing ourselves
washing loved ones.
maybe I’ll see a mother braiding her daughters hair,
maybe I’ll see two friends giggle over gossip
as they share a bottle of lotion.
or maybe I’ll smile
when I lock eyes
with an elderly woman
I see so much of myself in.
maybe today I‘ll put on a pretty outfit,
or perhaps a comfy one.
maybe I’ll run into you again next time—
but probably not—
and then we go home.
