“I’ve always been bad at words.
I think you’ve picked up on that,
when I stutter through small talk
and shy away from new people.
But I know I’m not really bad at words.
It’s just talking to you that’s different.”
“I’m not very good at codes.
You’ve probably picked up on that,
when I avoid deciphering Caesar
and don’t decode your pigpen.
But I’m actually pretty good at codes.
I just don’t understand yours.”
“Your strange signs”
“make it hard to choose
the phrases that sit right with you.
Your confidence”
“unnerves me and makes it hard to figure out
your intentions.”
“I don’t”
“understand you”
“and I don’t”
“know what to say.”
“So we should work on that.”
“I guess we should.”
Acrylic on Canvas by Sienna Flowers
Biography
I’m Lina Kim, a sophomore. In my free time, I’m either dancing, writing, or playing music with one of my two bands.
What is your main source of inspiration?
My main sources of inspiration tend to be my closest friends or memories of past friendships. I like to turn my thoughts into poetry rather than prose because I feel less restricted in my expression.
What motivated you to write this piece, what is its message?
I find that it is hard for me to tell people how I feel directly; so I wrote “Words and Codes” to help me untangle my own riddles in order to share those feelings.
