When someone tells you “you look smart” - Jiwon Lee

When someone tells you
You look smart,
What does it mean?

How can someone look smart?
How smartness can be seen?

I already gave up on
Being told “you look pretty”

So, please
Do not describe my appearance
With unseeable words

When you say “you look”
Please say what you are
Looking at

---

Jiwon Lee (20th century) South Korea
Source: Best American Poetry