Never

it’s always personal
running through the airport
it’s never just business
it’s going to be a bad breakup
consolidations, constrictions, contractions
ginkgo and fig leaves
this circle is really a square
no reason to forgive
Christmas 2019

it was a double-blind experiment
rejection, ejection
center of symmetry, center of gravity
leaving and never returning
when the continents were in different places
for now, not forever
nobody wants me
who has the winner’s edit
“you think you can do these things, but you can’t”

left up there, at the top of the world
your brain running on a sine wave
you’re a black belt
a Soviet space dog
Fortress Pillow
rebuild our Edge, rebuild the New Kingdom
one light to stave away the cold
a nation that stretched across the top of Eurasia
failed messiah; advent never arrives

dark forest, frozen lake, midnight sun
the gifts of the air
why should I celebrate failure
to feel and to live alone
platitudes that say nothing
a thing that sounds like some self-help nonsense
beautiful but incomprehensible
we live on a diamond
you only get one life

alluvial fans and alluvial plains
a moment on the Other Side
analyze it into the ground
we live in a circle, mirroring each other

Please do not repost without my permission, but you can support my poetry here! Originally written 2/24/21. Copyright, All Rights Reserved. All art, not from the author, belongs to the original artists. This particular illustration is called “The Temptation of St. Anthony,” by Salvador Dali.

‘Hard Edit’ – “The Genius,” Season 2: Doohee’s Story

Sangmin (상민) Oppa (오빠) and Hongchul (홍철) Oppa swore revenge on Doohee (두희), since Episode 2, when Doohee betrayed their alliance, in the Wang (King) Game. They let Jiwon (지원) and Yuyoon (유영) take hold of and hold on to Doohee’s ID plate token (sinbunjeung). I find it hard to believe that Jiwon and Yuyoon didn’t know that Doohee’s ID tag wasn’t the hidden immunity item – taken out of the safe, behind the James Dean Blvd. sign.

The hunt for the hidden immunity item was so all-consuming and the hidden immunity item was so overpowered – spring-boarding Yohwan into the Semifinals, and then Finals – that The Genius never used such an in-game mechanism ever again.

Sangmin Oppa was on the periphery of the Season 2 majority alliance (that’s why he was working with Jiwon, Yohwan (요환) and Yunseon (윤선) Eonni (언니), during the Blackout episode). The hidden immunity item was his only path to the win.

The Episode 6 Main Match was completely obscured by the desperate hunt for the hidden immunity item. Production probably didn’t like that, even if it made for an exciting edit, at the time. Jinho (진호) Oppa was always in the majority alliance. He was the one to beat, just like in Season 1. But the hidden immunity item gave that win to Sangmin Oppa.

Jeonghyun-ssi (정현-씨) led the charge, for justice for Doohee, but he was only one person, with limited social capital, in the young people’s game, himself. Earlier, in the season, Jeonghyun-ssi gave Sangmin Oppa the part of his die, with six pips on it, without even thinking about how valuable it was, or could be. Sangmin Oppa went on to win the die roll Main Match, of Episode 7.

It’s like when Esau sold his birthright, to his twin brother, Jacob, for a pot of stew. What’s ironic is that Jeonghyun-ssi was following Sangmin Oppa and Yohwan around, looking for an advantage, with the die. He knew so little about his own die, that Sangmin Oppa was able to easily relieve Jeonghyun-ssi of his one, actual advantage.

Sangmin Oppa acted like Doohee’s savior – but then he just lied to Doohee, and gave him a fake hidden immunity item. Doohee was hurt all over again. Insult to injury. No one was on Doohee’s side. And then he was simply evicted. I was so happy when Sangmin Oppa went to save Doohee, with his hidden immunity item. Turns out it was just the immunity item’s case – not the item itself.

Doohee, thought he was immune – so, he blew up his game, and targeted an actual ally, Jinho Oppa, for the Death Match. Doohee, was a Cochran; he played both sides, but Sangmin Oppa really played him – after the group already played him – completely destroying the poor guy. During the Blackout Death Match, Jiwon lies to Doohee, getting him eliminated. Three people told three major lies to him, in one episode. They all really ganged up on him.

Jiwon was such a bad liar too. But Doohee wanted to believe, needed to believe. His life, in the game, was on the line. This was the worst one reality TV game episode, for an individual, ever. It is a historic The Genius episode.