it’s terrifying to think that this sadness is original. so we
imagine the elephant just outside a major metropolitan city  
who has to overcome his grief to paint a picture of a lake.
not really a lake, but the blues streaked across the canvas remind
us of a lake. the yellow dot: the boat we are on. somewhere else
there are also waves, and in a boat, not ours but someone’s
child is learning the violin so that his mother can have
some dignity in her final days.

*

“i am really happy for you!” is what i hope someone i care about
says to me in the near future. so i make questionable investments.
offshore oil rigs, shorting stocks, plane tickets to colorado to
pan for gold. you know, those kinda things. “today in the river
jakob and i found a few flakes of gold” is what i was telling you
last night over the phone. you asked me who jakob was.
“a friend i made while panning for gold! but i can’t talk
long. have to get up early tomorrow. jakob and i want to get
a prime spot on the river!”

—

Sean Cho A. is the author of American Home (Autumn House 2021) winner of the Autumn House Press chapbook contest. His work can be future found or ignored in Copper Nickel, Prairie Schooner, The Massachusetts Review, Nashville Review, among others. Sean is a graduate of the MFA program at The University of California Irvine and a PhD Student at the University of Cincinnati. He is the Editor in Chief of The Account.