Poet's Note 005

Part 1 New
I live alone in Jeju and I'm weak to alcohol / It's still a sad day, how could snails stick to my shoes / The words I ask while waiting for the promised flower to come / I feel like a person who just waits for the sea to take them away / When I stand on the grass, it feels like an underline has been drawn on me / I think of it with my eyes since the day I shed my first tear / I'm holding it in so I can't even drink water and just smile / It must be a house that started from the ground up, so I'll get bruises while living / The island is hit by the falling stars without an umbrella / I've gone waist-deep in search of words I don't mean / If I convey words through the sea, only foam will be conveyed / Longing doesn't even know how to write a letter 036

Part 2 Sprout
Things like green and grass are always there but I couldn't see them. It must have been from that day on / The path of the sun / The sound of the moon rising was the sound of calling me / There are things that don't change even if I shake them off / About things that pile up the more I ventilate / If the light is bright and light, then my expression must be light / Flowers that bloom, flowers that wither / The mirror gets wider as I fill the empty bowl with water / As I stay still, I become gentle / Autumn when cosmos opens its hands to recover / A scarecrow that had more time than words / Time to lie down and touch the island with its back / The concept of deep taste seems to exist only in shallow water / I feel like I'll wait for myself and when I come, I'll send myself away again

Part 3: Eyes
A clearer conviction can even sing a song / When I close my eyes, I open them at the time when butterflies come / Even if the roses passed us by, there is a lot of space, so maybe / If I had put on a transparent coat, I would have done what I had to do / My arms are the only ones that will accept me, so it's trivial to cry / It's not that, it's taste, taste / No matter how long I wait, winter comes / The sea is deep below and I am deep behind / The name of a tangerine is tangerine, the name of the sea is water / I'm glad it's a butterfly / The more I drink, the more I take out / The wind blowing in the one remaining sea / I followed the hydrangea thinking it was a butterfly / I opened my bag to see if there was anything I bought well / How strong will the alcohol I made be / If I erase what I want to say, only these words will remain

Part 4 Water
When tears bend, I bend too / The feeling of regret does not doze or rest even for a moment / I walked on an island without a single pupil / A sky trapped in the sky / Should I eat dinner first, or choose the season first / If that is a secret even after leaving the shade / The hand that cannot speak must be kept in a dream / The water that is collected in a glass / One more reason why a clam opens its eyes / The tree becomes transparent every time it shakes / Not a sunset, but something like a sunset / The waves based on dreams laugh on my behalf

Commentary│From Nature to Freedom - The Smiling Man Lee Won-ha
Shin Hyeong-cheol (literary critic)

“Come closer to me, my identity is endless.”
How did such talent suddenly emerge? _Shin Hyeong-cheol (literary critic)

A poet with unparalleled talent and a unique background who emerged like a comet.
Lee Won-ha's first poetry collection

We are publishing the first poetry collection of poet Wonha Lee, who debuted through the 2018 Hankook Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest.
At the time, it was a poem with a straightforwardness that made you read it without cutting it to the chase.
It was a poem that knew how to flow like a song.
It was a poem that made me dance with its unique rhythm.
It was a poem of innocence that had no way of knowing what was in the air.
It was a poem that said everything it wanted to say in a muscular, short sentence.
Above all, it was a poem that had 'me' in it.
It was a poem that kicked away stereotypes.
Sira was a poem that had never been crouched under any kind of compulsion.
In any case, it was selected unanimously by the judges with the comment, “It was a poem that made the readers smile brightly.”
His poem had a unique title, “I live alone in Jeju and I’m weak when it comes to alcohol,” and immediately after his election, it became a hot topic among literary circles, critics, publishers, and readers who had been waiting for his new poems.
The fact that she did not graduate from the Department of Korean Language and Literature or the Department of Creative Writing, graduated from a beauty high school, worked as a beauty salon staff member, and worked as an extra actor whose back briefly appears in the movie [The Handmaiden] also played a role.
In his mid-twenties, if not later, he encountered literature and moved to Jeju Island to write poetry, and his personality completely broke away from the format he was accustomed to seeing in the New Year’s literary contest.
Two years have passed since then.
Now, I am meeting readers anew with the title of my first poetry collection, which contains a total of 54 poems, ‘Living Alone in Jeju and I’m Weak When It Comes to Alcohol.’

When you open the poetry collection, the contents are fresh from the very beginning.
The composition is divided into four parts, and each part has a subtitle: ‘New’, ‘Sprout’, ‘Eyes’, and ‘Water’.
The titles of the poems are rather long, with short subtitles that, while being single-syllable words, create new meanings when read as 'sprout' and 'tears' or as 'sprout tears'.
‘It’s still a sad day, how could a snail stick to my shoe?’ ‘I feel like someone who is just waiting for the sea to come running.’ ‘When I stand on the grass, it feels like a line has been drawn under me.’ ‘There are things that don’t change even if I shake them off.’ ‘It’s a shame to cry because my arms are the only ones that will accept me.’ ‘My feelings of regret won’t let me sleep or rest even for a moment.’ These titles seem like writing and speaking at the same time, like a monologue or a letter to someone.

Jeju in June
When the hydrangeas blooming in Jongdal-ri become fat
And when night comes, pick a hydrangea
I'll put it in a juicer, squeeze the juice, and drink it.
I want to have a way of speaking like the juice of a hydrangea
To do that, I monitor the hydrangeas every day.

Come close to me

Living alone has given me a deep understanding of myself.
He had the temperament of a painter.
I paint the big picture every day.
So I guess that's why you don't have a lover

My identity is endless

Whenever I see many travelers coming to Jeju
The water bowl behind me keeps spilling.
This is because the shell is thin and fragile.
I hope they don't get hurt
I want to tell you not to do things like love in the future

The wind blowing in Jeju has ripped out all my feathers,
There is no end to development

I imagine running away to Gimpo every day.
Imagine stealing Gimpo
But I won't run away
That doesn't mean I'll steal it.

I am a funny and strange person living in Jeju.
I make others laugh and I laugh a lot by myself.

There are so many things to laugh about in Jeju.
It's a tough place to live if you're a wanted criminal.
Because you'll be noticed right away by the laughter.
_「I live alone in Jeju and I'm weak at drinking」

The first poem you read in earnest after first tasting his natural grammar, which is relaxed and natural, on the table of contents is his debut work and the title poem, “I live alone in Jeju and I’m weak to alcohol.”
From lyrical materials like hydrangeas and the wind that bloom in Jeju to the use of polite language with a strange charm like “Come closer to me” and “My identity is endless”, to the seemingly innocent determination of “I am a funny and strange person who lives in Jeju”.
All the power of Lee Won-ha's poetry is contained in it.
However, critic Shin Hyeong-cheol, who was in charge of commenting on the poetry collection, read only this one poem and said, “What kind of history of the heart led to the writing of this poem?
He predicted that he would never know what time was behind this smile and how this beautiful polite speech was born.
In short, starting with this poem, after encountering the 'endless identity' of 'the funny and strange person living in Jeju' one by one, and then returning to read this poem once more, you will finally fully understand this poem.
Clearly, the more I read the poetry collection, the clearer my image of myself becomes.
He is a person who decided to move to Jeju Island and live there. He is a person who often looks at the sea and often goes out for walks.
A person whose face turns red when the weather gets cold, a person who misses someone, a person who ruminates on the regrets that remain, a person who cries secretly and has developed the habit of hiding and covering up those tears with a smile.

The wind is cold or hot
The trees are small or tall
A time to stay or pass by
A single word can either appease a person or the opposite.
You are one
_「If it's a secret even if I leave the shadows」

Reminiscing is tiring

Foolishness is still with me today

If I make a good expression
Good things only happen to others
(…)

Because once you hurt someone, you can't turn back.
I need to save, but it's already irreversible
Thursday was supposed to be a full day
_「The feeling of regret doesn't let me sleep or rest even for a moment」

In the sky of Hadori
When the blanket starts to cover you, let's go out slowly.
It's a good time to cry
When the sky begins to cover with a blanket
There will be no one working in the fields
It's a good time to cry alone.

No words of comfort, only understanding
Voice of the Wind
The deceased's tears are telling me to be diligent
One step
I can cry with this wind and vibration
_「It's still a sad day, how could there be a snail stuck to my shoe?」

I thought maybe if I shine a light on it, people would recognize me
I just laughed

How long can this go on?
It was just so funny
_「If the light is bright and it is light, then my expression will be light」

Day is low
I wish it all disappeared

Because I keep making resolutions during the day, I get a new resolution.
Because I look good

I'm often scared
I smile every time I'm in that state

Living on an island
The island's situation has become the same.

I'm always alone and recovering on my own.
It has become an island
_「Tokyo doesn't even know how to write letters」

I am suffering from lingering regrets and things I cannot forgive, but I cannot help but miss you. The words I speak to you are in a polite tone, like a whisper or a letter. My feelings, which I habitually choose to laugh with, and my feelings that I like to cry alone, can be found in a declarative writing style, like a murmur or a diary.
A strange reading experience where, depending on the writing style, the reader finds themselves observing the speaker's facial expressions and state of mind.

This collection of poems can be said to contain the process of the speaker, who has been covering up his own shortcomings with a smile, blooming his own flower on an “island like a flowerpot in the middle of the sea” (“Flowers that Bloom, Flowers that Fall”).
This is the record of someone who explored the narrative of his heart amidst the beautiful things and abundant nature of Jeju.


Forever, no more
Thinking about staying for a while
When the call comes, pick up the phone
I brag about being with a good person.
Because that moment won't last forever
Show off now
Like this
_「About the things that accumulate as you ventilate」

He will soon leave this island with Noeul.
That's all, and that's it for today only
Everything is originally like that

Like flowers in spring
It's easier to think of it as just a short period of time.

This year is beautiful only until today,

Like this
_"Not a sunset, but something like a sunset" part

Back to "I live alone in Jeju and I'm weak to alcohol."
Now, I want to have a “speech like the juice of a hydrangea.”
The flower language of hydrangea is sincerity and capriciousness, and it is a word that hides and reveals at the same time.
I am at an age where I feel like a bird with all its feathers plucked out by the Jeju wind, but I am also at an age where I know that “there is no end to development.”
The face of someone who says, “I make others laugh and I laugh a lot by myself,” will definitely have a smile on its face.
So, now it's your turn to meet this "funny and strange person living in Jeju."

He is now a man who laughs not because he has to keep from crying, but because he can laugh.
This smile is something he has earned, but he wants to say that it is a gift from Jeju.
“There are so many things to laugh about in Jeju.” Now, how would someone who has only read this poem and not the entire collection of poems know?
What kind of history of the heart led to the writing of this poem.
What time is behind this smile, and how was this beautiful honorific language born?
The poetry ends here and he has a long way to go.
The path from nature to freedom, we too are on that path, and poetry is only on that path.
Lee Won-ha's poetry is a song of nature that looks toward freedom.
_Shin Hyeong-cheol, commentary from “From Nature to Freedom - The Smiling Man Lee Won-ha”

Poet's words

I ended up writing a letter that wasn't a letter
The first sentence of the letter begins like this:

I still live alone in Jeju and I'm not good at drinking.

April 2020
Lee Won-ha