Korean Boys

summer night in Chicago
dark, thick with humidy
quiet shredded by motorcycle buzz
down Kedzie Avenue
Korean boys in black jeans
and tank tops with red dragons
arms tatooed eyes blank 
behind mirrored sunglasses
black hair gelled 
into ferocious Elvis waves
riding Suzukis and Kawasakis
too young for big hog Harleys
sneering teenage laughter 
mocking each other
covering pimple fears 
while daring wheelie danger
and smearing the night 
with smoking testosterone exhaust
race to the highway overpass at Belmont
no welcome south in Logan Square
where hipsters smoke weed
oblivious to the manic machines
and Asians who somehow don’t belong
then over to Kimball and up to Lawrence
where the girls gaggle in front 
of the Kimchi Kitchen
hello kitty purses
halter tops and off shoulder blouses
wanting rides on bikes, on boys
on the way to Skokie and 
motherhood and Land Rovers 
in the driveway
the American success story

Chuck Kramer’s poetry and fiction have appeared most recently in First Light Journal (Honorable Mention—2025 Fall Poetry Contest), Blood+Honey, Synchronized Chaos, The Brussels Review, Lothlorien, and The Raven’s Perch.