Poet's words

Part 1: Slush on a Summer Afternoon

We are thirsty and often have wet backs.
Slush on a summer afternoon
Shower gel and soda water
You can throw away expired medicine at the pharmacy.
Overtime
A past that wasn't fun
Oh! Lilac
Our Bossa Nova
When I was at my cutest, I wanted to have free time without peanuts.
Our occurrence after school
The smell of charcoal in summer night ghost stories
Bright walk
For Tsuki
Come Back Home

Part 2 Soda-flavored, sugar-flavored, dolphin-flavored monologue

tomato jelly
Opening a Chinese restaurant in the Alps
I wish I had a lot of money
Peanut Down Peanut
Jjapaghetti on Sunday morning
Real documentary
Street Literature Fighter
Survive! Pufferfish - I don't know, I don't know, the real reason I died
Cyber ​​Siotsiot
I took the fence out of my heart
long weekend
Good for your health

Part 3 Summer is really over!

Space Snail Station
summer cold
Sujeong and Seri
Insects that eat away the scent and flesh left on the melon rind
Blue Buddha
Fireflies and Goldfish
Melon soda and Neapolitan
At a Shibuya cafe with a view of Parco Department Store
Master of Love
About receiving chocolate from a vampire on Valentine's Day
Star Candy and the Alchemist
Light as a kernel of corn
Summer is really over!

Part 4 I'm not saying this because I hate you

Mu-dae-myeon
Monster's Legacy
how are you doing?
The perfect vacation cliche
Selling Samdasoo at a cheap price
Sena Nana Nanase
Who first thought that aliens might have superpowers?
Poetry Corner
Dude, do you still listen to Coldplay and Damien Rice?
fish tank in water
The new human race that left the end of the century cherished the end.
Hidden masterpieces

Commentary | Joking in a Damned World: The Struggles of a Street Literature Fighter | Park Sang-su (Poet, Literary Critic)

“Our talent lies in loving the fallen landscape.”

Standing on today's crumpled heel
A portrait of a twenty-something who keeps his promise of tomorrow.

Poet Go Seon-gyeong, who depicts the youth generation that does not lose faith in themselves and throws jokes of hope into a world that seems to be left with only resignation and helplessness, is publishing her first poetry collection, “Shower Gel and Soda Water,” as the 202nd issue of the Munhakdongne Poet Selection.
When he debuted in the 2022 Chosun Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest, poets Lee Moon-jae and Jeong Gyeot-byeol praised his poetry, saying it would be written with overflowing "poetic passion." He has presented poems that vividly portray the reality of those in their twenties, while also boldly walking toward an "infinite and strange future," as he stated in his acceptance speech.

In this collection of poems, the poet arranges cultural elements that were popular in an era, as if playing an old tape, drawing the reader into a world of poetry filled with empathy and nostalgia.
The present, after returning from a flashback that was like a distant memory, is a series of losing games.
The poet uses self-deprecating yet clever humor to distort the harsh reality of young people and add a fragrant and cheerful imagination to the unknown tomorrow.
In these poems, which show that the ability to imagine the beyond allows us to pledge to the future, promise love, and harbor endless hopes, we seem to hear the voices of those who live today once again by dreaming of new possibilities.

*

Our exchange diary was completely burned by the late summer heat.

The leaves I picked up on my late-night walk, your broken glasses, the junk, the ominous affection, maybe everything got boring. Do you remember what happened in the empty classroom with the broken fan? You had cute stickers all over your diary that day. The tip of your pen was a fluent syringe, injecting colorful emotions. Every time it pricked my plump, swollen heart, I became fragrant.
_「You can throw away expired medicine at the pharmacy」

Go Seon-gyeong's poems take me back to the nostalgic afternoons when I used to write in my exchange diary and listen to Infinite Loop, Panic, and Daft Punk.
Cute and sweet fragments of memories make the speaker and the reader immerse in nostalgia.
But in the latter half of the poem, the speaker who was writing the exchange diary lies next to his friend, “as if he had died a long time ago,” and the gentle wind grows old and the raindrops turn rusty.
The speaker boldly lets go of the growing reminiscence and recognizes reality.
And then he returns to being a young man in his twenties who can't sleep because of debt and starts washing dishes in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant.

The glamorous image of youth seen on social media is absent from Go Seon-gyeong's poetry.
Like a camera without a filter and a microphone without an echo, Go Seon-gyeong's poetry captures the somewhat awkward daily life of a young man in raw pixels.
But even if he gets fired or his poetry doesn't sell, Go Seon-gyeong's speaker doesn't give up easily.
Rather, he twists the situation with self-deprecating humor and reminds us of his own situation.
The courage to face the weight of reality accurately without pitying oneself is evident throughout Go Seon-gyeong's poems.

Before leaving the store after getting fired from my part-time job
I asked if I could drink some ice water.
While drinking water
There are some people in this world who are not very smart.
Tsk, after giving him some training, I patted the boss on the shoulder.

(……)

The night
I bury my face in the fog that has brought me into the room.
I'm in debt, you idiot. Debt is
Fluffy
_From "Opening a Chinese Restaurant in the Alps"

In an age where the belief that a better life awaits us if we just endure a little longer is fading.
How are the youth of this era enduring the present?
Go Seon-gyeong adds boundless imagination to the bleak landscape before her eyes, making it lively.
The debt that kept me up at night becomes soft like a pillow, the city is drenched in colorful rain, and red tomatoes roll down the slopes.
As I watch this scenery, my worries disappear and my mind becomes light.
Even though failure is inevitable, we can see the attitude of a poet who believes in himself and encourages himself rather than the times by keeping open the liberating avenue of imagination.

Go Seon-gyeong's vivid perspective and lively imagination blend into poems about love, creating a unique twist.
When you're with someone you love, the crumpled heels of your sneakers transform into a smiling expression.
Things that are fragile and finite, like the bubbles in soda, become solid and infinite.
Now the world itself becomes a solid and beautiful landscape.

The crumpled heels of the shoes left in the hallway resemble a smiling face. You are lying in bed. I want to go to the windy barley field. I want to have extinct memories. When your hair flutters lightly, I understand a lost language.

I'm used to the darkness of the morning now
Should we wash together anyway?
Should I go for a walk?

The slowest walking trail in the world
Loving the fallen landscape is our talent.
_From "Shower Gel and Soda Water"

Poet Go Seon-gyeong's talent shines when she dreams of new possibilities by imagining beyond such a fallen landscape.
In these times when it is easy to be consumed by resignation and apathy, the sentences of Go Seon-gyeong, who has just come out into the world, seem to declare, “Let us stay here and continue living” (commentary).
The portrait of a young man shaking off the weight of life and taking his first steps into the unknown seems to be drawn along with the lovely scent of 'Shower Gel and Soda Water'.

◎ Mini-interview with poet Go Seon-gyeong

Q1.
My first poetry collection, Shower Gel and Soda Water, has been published.
It's been a year and a half since I debuted in the 2022 Chosun Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest.
I'm curious about how you feel about presenting your first poetry collection.
How have you been since your debut?

Maybe it's because this is my only first time? I'm afraid and find it difficult to say anything.
I worry about how people will read it, and whether they will read it at all, and these are days when I feel discouraged and dispirited.
But today, my parents changed their KakaoTalk profile picture to the cover of my poetry collection.
Thankfully, there are people who support me more than I do, so I feel like I shouldn't be discouraged as long as they are there.
I just want to get through this time without any problems.
After my debut, I started living alone in Seoul again.
Meanwhile, I worked part-time at a candy store, wrote poetry, traveled, dated, entered graduate school, didn't study much, and just liked meeting people and having fun.

Q2.
When I first heard the title 'Shower Gel and Soda Water', I thought of bubbles popping and fragrant.
I'm curious how you came up with this title.

A refreshing and light image came to mind.
I hoped that would be the first impression of this collection of poems, but I also wanted to express the feeling after crying a lot.
I'm a crybaby who cries when I'm happy and when I'm sad.
When I feel like I've cried enough, I wash my face cleanly, but it seems like what washes away in the water isn't just soap bubbles.
A jumble of mixed emotions, an overly heavy heart, distracting thoughts, myself.
Once those things are cleared up even a little, I feel much lighter.
This poetry collection is similar in that the lightness comes only after crying.
Above all, shower gel and soda water, these two objects, are extremely ordinary, yet they remind us of everyday life.
It has a sense of humor that I like and it triggers it.

Q3.
The psalms are filled with a strong sense of nostalgia for bygone times.
What kind of student were you during your school days? And what experiences from those years inspired your poetry?

When I was in the 6th grade, my homeroom teacher told my parents that I was a violent child.
In my middle school record book, it says, 'He has a challenging look in his eyes.'
In short, I was a rough and rebellious student.
I used to hate being tied down by group life and school rules, but I also desperately wanted to feel a sense of belonging.
My friends found it burdensome for me to do that.
I often felt left out when I was with my friends.
So I loved things that were far away.
A world I can neither penetrate nor reach, like novels, movies, and music.
Especially when I was in middle school, I liked stopping by the bookstore on my way home from school.
When I, who had no money, became familiar with the face of the part-time worker, I mustered up the courage to ask if I could read the book without buying it.
He said it was okay no matter what and asked me what kind of books I liked.
I became close with my part-time worker from then on.
We sat inside the counter, covered with blankets, drinking cocoa and talking about books and music until closing time.
My sister also gave me a radio and a diary as a gift.
My sister's diary's name is 'Aldo'.
It is said to be taken from the title of a fairy tale, and is also the name of a rabbit doll that is a friend of a lonely child in the fairy tale.

But at some point, I couldn't see my sister even when I went to the bookstore.
I guess it was something to put aside.
Come to think of it, I didn't know anything about my sister other than that she was thirty years old.
All I was left with was an indescribable sense of loss, a radio, and a diary clumsily named after my sister.
Sometimes I wonder if that really happened.
If it really happened, why didn't she tell me in advance or come back to see me again? I used to imagine meeting her by chance while walking down the street, and then I'd think, "Oh, it must have just been my imagination..." But when I listened to the music of the singer she recommended, I was overcome by an inexplicable loneliness.
Of course, I don't remember my sister's face anymore and I don't miss her.
I think the nostalgia that permeates my poetry comes from those experiences and those times.

Q4.
What cannot be left out of this collection of poems are the beautiful and imaginative sentences expressing 'love'.
Lovely lines like “I hope my love feels like a superpower to you” (“Who first thought that aliens would have superpowers?”) stick in my mind.
I wonder what form of love the poet had in mind while preparing this poetry collection.

I think love has its share of unpleasantness.
In “The Alchemist and the Star Candy,” it is expressed that, contrary to expectations, when “a ripe chestnut is split open,” “a worm wriggling inside the fruit/is closer to the shape of love.”
To me, something so beautiful sometimes feels repulsive, and so some objects of repulsion or images of repulsion feel beautiful.
But neither beauty nor disgust lasts forever.
Because nothing lasts forever, the loving being feels helpless.
And for the same reason, it exerts transcendent powers.
It is so transcendent that it can even handle the insurmountable impossibility of eternity.
But still… isn’t it a bit sad to wish for the object of your love to last forever? It’s beautiful.
barely.

Q5.
Lastly, please say hello to the readers of ‘Shower Gel and Soda Water.’

I am very pleased and honored to be able to greet you with this collection of poems.
The time since the publication of my first poetry collection is unknown to me, but that is why I dare to invite you.
I hope you find this book enjoyable and free.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who reads this.
I think I was a bit stiff during the interview because it was my first time, but I'll do better next time.
You can do it!

Poet's words

I want to show you some fragrant delusion.

October 2023
Go Seon-gyeong