-
·
“Backcountry Metaphor” by Shin Yong-Mok
Like an amputee’s discarded leg,I’m lying down.Somebody closes a window. The passing sky overhead resembles bloodstains on an empty ICU bed in a darkened room. Someone is leaving me. The hurried clack, clack of crutches. Where could my youth be going?Unwrapping the bandages in the delicate red of the evening light,I see infection setting in…
-
·
“Fortunate Things” by Kim So-Yeon
Rain is falling. When rain falls, I take out my cardigan from the closet to put on. When I wear my cardigan, I place my hands in the pockets. When I place my hands in the pockets, I feel the seashells inside them. It’s morning. Rain is falling. In the past these shells from who…
-
·
“Me, You” by Park Sang-Soon
I wish that you didn’t get angry watching a stream,even when it rises to overflow its banks. I wish that I wasn’t afraid of coming across a cat in the night,that even if that night cat bit your ankle, you would stay on your feet, unaffected. I wish that I didn’t dream about you,that the…
-
·
“To Someone” by Moon Jeong-Hee
I’ve come here avoid somebody, yet here I am missing someone.Somebody, who are you?Stars crawl out and fill the night sky,resting their warmth against a cold body.They call out a name.By early madness and misfortune, by treasured sin,I’ve become a poet,but where is the space for me to fill?I wanted to dig into emptiness and…
-
·
“Sad Patriarch” by Hwang In-Sook
Thumb, index finger, middle finger.As you stare at your three outstretched fingers,I tell you that you’re making the face of someone about to cry.Your chest is torn in sadness,and because of the brain cancer,you, my older sister’s husband, can no longer cry.Until now, on three fingers you’ve countedyour worries: a wife and two sons.You envy…
-
·
“If That Too is Love” by Park Ra-Yeon
Even though they call softly,soon in every moonlit alley I hangmy everythingon flowersrecognizing someone like witnessesand blooming radiantly Because my entire body is a pupil Because flowersare the best calendarfor recognizing people Each year it’s as ifeverything life gives meis for something else it earnestlywishes it could say 나지막하게 불러도금방 뒤돌아보는 달의 골목마다 꽃들이사람을 알아본다는…
-
·
“Only Just a Little Strange” by Kang Seong-Eun
Still lost in some thought,nameless and without symptoms, I stop.And coming back to my senses, see a world in motion. Like a disease that is only just a little strange.Like a sleep that is only just a little strange. Like a season growing in my mindthen fading without sadness. The time for reading from top…
-
·
“Love’s Wasteland” by Hwang In-Sook
In the morning paper,a facehappened upon suddenly. After seeing it,tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak, tak,my heart’s stings as if cut with a knife. The moment I saw a friend long deadmy strengthwas lost, I’ve lost, lost, the thought camelike lightning. Time that wasn’t given to my friend but mewas lost. That’s how selfish I’ve become.…