Part 1

hill
Back to the hill
Zelkova
Speaking to the October Sea
Sunset
The last thing I'll have is
When planting lotus flowers
Autumn lotus field
A flower tree with heavy flowers
Song of Flowers, Water, and Clouds
Clean the window
Bamboo forest morning sun
narrow spring
Autumn Port
Sanggang (霜降)

Part 2

Mokdojang
bean
poetry writing class
White porridge
move furniture
key
folding screen
Father's clothes
flower delivery

Part 3

Self-portrait
Rainbow House
Drinking on the train
The Lie I Loved
Epitaph
Drinking alone
Ask for a song
At Sasongam
Drawing a bird
Autumn Hands
Mask theory
Life of a Mask
Do you write lyric poetry?
Autumn Carpenter
Longing for the desert
Give me your face
In front of a pile of magnolia flowers at the old house
Clear weather
From the winter holly tree
The tree that goes to talk
flower
One day I was standing in front of a musical instrument store.
In the dressing room
I am a wanderer
My scenery
Picture diary
Which room
waiting room
cold wave
Put your name down

Part 4

Jo Gwang-jo
At Cheongnyangni Station
The entrance to summer
Which rainy season
A visit from a revolution
In the flower garden
Seoul, Spring 2023
Autobiography of the Law
About the scale
Magic Theater Preface
Magic Theater 1
Magic Theater 2
Magic Theater 3
scale
Some spring
Daeseo-so 1
Daeseo-so 2
inventor
homework
A flower fell

Commentary | Choi Won-sik
Poet's words

"Planting a song in water
That's not a song now, but in the future
“You are planting that song during the summer solstice?”

Jang Seok-nam's poetry, which depicts beautiful lyrical landscapes in communion with nature, seems to have now reached a state of indifference.
“The last day of March seems to welcome the first day of April, as if it were pure” (“Neuti”), and in the tranquil scenery where the morning sun “pours in like a hungry tiger” (“Morning Sun in the Bamboo Forest”), the divine rhythm of life comes to life.
In the detailed landscapes embroidered with concise language, traces of the poet's ceaseless self-questioning since he began writing poetry are clearly visible.
The scenery captured in the poet's eyes is gentle and beautiful, like a 'song planted in water.'
The poet, moving between life and poetry, earnestly asks what the true nature of humanity is, and nature never ignores the poet's questions. The poems in Part 1, including "Hill," "Nettle," and "Sunset," are imbued with the poet's lingering thoughts, brilliantly expressed through long reflection.


Meanwhile, the poet also sings calmly about “the story of my life mixed with tears” (“Neuti”).
The poet, who discovered his father's wooden seal, with only "his surname and name worn down like a threshold" left in an old desk drawer, suddenly feels moved by his father's arduous life of toiling "to the point where his name was worn down in the process of passing down this murky country" ("Wooden Seal"), and recalls the memory of when he tried on his father's clothes in middle school and "the yellow Chinese characters for my father's name embroidered on the front of the left inside pocket/touched my heart and made it sting," and reflects on his life here and now, becoming immersed in memories "like a faint ember" ("Father's Clothes").
In these poems, which reflect on the history of life and reunite with memories spanning generations, the poet's aesthetic achievement in sensually capturing the moment when past and present intersect is dazzling.


Ruins stained by the irrationality of power
A shrill voice echoes through the gap

What is particularly noteworthy in this collection of poems are the 'political poems' that stand out with their sharp perception of reality and sharp satire that seem to foresee today's reality.
“Seoul, 2023, Spring,” which begins with “Spring, coming/as if embracing an urn/this unpleasant warmth,” is a poetic prophecy that is chilling enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
The "Magic Theater" series, which likens the courtroom that seeks out the truth to a theater that performs the magic of lies and manipulation, and "Autobiography of the Law," which parodies electronic music with a new poetic style, show the pinnacle of satire, skillfully ridiculing "the ruins of today where the judiciary of politics has become a cornerstone" (commentary) and sharply criticizing the "sham laws of the judiciary" ("On the Scale") that "love profit and vested interests" and "think of things like conscience as ridiculous" ("Autobiography of the Law").
Facing the absurd reality where “Crimes run rampant in every government document/While making corpses” (“Seoul, 2023, Spring”) and “Lies endlessly gather lies” (“I am a Wanderer”), the poet “licks his blue lips” and shouts “Revolution, not Kim Su-yeong’s room” and “Choi Je-woo’s new era, freedom, freedom, freedom” (“Waiting Room”).

“Do you write lyric poetry?
No, I write 'lyric poetry'
“Like a bolt from the blue”

The poet, who has repeatedly questioned the self and humanity based on outstanding lyricism, is now taking a step closer to reality.
In an age where “even the soul is a mask” (“Life of a Mask”), the poet keenly realizes that “being alive is painful” (“Cold Wave”), and vows to write poetry that “imprisons and meanness, shamelessness and vulgarity, even cunning/and imprisons them in the light of a moment” and “lightning-like lyric poetry” that “reports to lightning/about people who do things worthy of being struck by lightning.”
While fearing that “I will never be able to solve the questions and homework/about the ruined reality” (“Homework”), he moves toward the world, “the land where people live” (“Clear Sky”), “while also singing some terrifyingly sad songs.”
The figure of a poet, a person, coming over “the long hill where love is visible” (“Hill”) with slow, “gray steps” (“Hill Again”), is solemn.
This collection of poems, embroidered with the poet's unwavering belief in moving toward a better reality through poetry, along with its unique lyricism, will instantly quench the thirst of readers thirsty for the sound of poetry grounded in reality.

Poet's words

In the winter garden, footsteps stop in front of the pine trees.
A location that was not available in spring and summer

Now, life is at a stage where there is a lot of 'retrospection'
Do I have that 'Sol'?
It is a time of severe winter when we ask ourselves questions.

Is it fortunate that the callus on my index finger hasn't worn off?

January 2025
Jang Seok-nam