June Oh

Feb 7, 2024 | highschool.latimes.com | June Oh

“Are you ‘sure’ you don’t like him?”By January of the fourth grade, my mother, the school principal, and five girls in my class had asked me this dreaded question. Each time they did, their giggles and grins were met with flushed cheeks and a firm ‘NO’, which only seemed to motivate their teasing. As a nine-year-old, these words not only hurt, but eventually became the fueling source of internal shame, humiliation, and confusion.

Jan 10, 2024 | culturaldaily.com | June Oh

for the angels. a mother’s tears were taken in bullets and fired—stilled by the bodies that swallow them. even anger can’t ricochetthis kind of death. there is no cure for silence ordeafness to mangled outcries, a euphony that begs to be taken too soon. wheni’m dreaming, there is no happily ever after. they say don’t be scared and i say i can take the bullets. take me instead.