Part 1 I fell in love with you

caution
cow
I fell in love with you
Christmas Eve
I catch it
snowman
freely
On a dark, shining night
love you
rally
A heart with a heart
gap tower
Unit 4
Photo title
Wall and ladder

Part 2: Come visit me for a moment

Missing letters
Makeup is a science
Come visit me for a bit
breathless words
Fact Check
gravitation
I'll take care of it
transfer student
Change change change
Gather the energy of the universe
virus
The Three Musketeers' Three-Year Plan
Welcome gift
bus to the sea
parentheses

Part 3 One Person Two Person Snowman

luck
Bluetooth
One person, two people, snowman
It's up to me
A long wait
nevertheless
Butterfly's Heart
The station you get off at
tuesday
Because time is gold
Maze Escape
Strange sleeping habits
Beautiful signal
The bench, me, and the clouds
Let's be comrades to each other
(x, y)

Part 4: Mind Account Book

I don't know
Mind Account Book
Shining waves
The cartoon flower has bloomed
Descendants of Hong Gildong
periscope
Our wish
Open button
Hongsi's heart
Washing hands
happy moments
nap
Gibbs
1%

The poet's prose
The mind becomes an island, and the island becomes poetry.

Reading activity sheet

Rather than deciding the outcome
It's a matter of keeping the draw
I'm happier
The mind is rallying
It's a long give and take

"I'm not afraid of the storm / I'll face it with the word growth."
A new collection of poetry for young adults by poet Lee Jang-geun, who delivers mail to the island of the heart.

The fourth work of the Youth Perspective series, “I Didn’t Do Well, But I Feel I Did It,” by poet Lee Jang-geun, was published during the break time.
This is the fifth poetry collection for young adults by poet Jang-geun Lee, who has been actively engaged in various fields including poetry, children's poetry, youth poetry, and picture books since his debut in the 2008 Maeil Shinmun New Year's Literary Contest.
In particular, this poetry collection features nine paintings drawn by poet Lee Jang-geun himself, placed throughout the book to add unique character.
Poet Jang-geun Lee, who has taught the heart of poetry by working with countless young people more closely than anyone else as a current middle school teacher, once again holds the hands of young people through “I didn’t do well, but I feel like I did it.”

“You can live without poetry, but life becomes more beautiful with poetry.”
Whenever I was having a hard time, I turned to poetry and overcame despair.
Good things must be shared.
“I want to add poetry to my students’ daily lives, like a side dish served on rice.” (Prose “The Heart Becomes an Island, and the Island Becomes Poetry”)

Poet Lee Jang-geun says that this collection of poems is a 'story of an island.'
“There are times when the heart feels like an island.
Everyone has different reasons, but it's when the word 'alone' comes to mind even when I'm with people.
Perhaps the heart is an island floating in the sea of ​​the body.
In that sense, people each live with their own island.
/ If no one lives on an island, it is called an uninhabited island.
But you don't have to worry too much.
As long as there is even one person living on the island, it is not an uninhabited island.
“I just need to live in my heart.” (The heart becomes an island, and the island becomes poetry) As a teacher, poet Jang-geun Lee constantly visits his students’ islands, and as a poet, he busily sends letters to his readers’ islands.
With the heart of a kind visitor, the poetry collection is filled with warm messages of encouragement and support that only poet Lee Jang-geun can deliver.


On a particularly difficult day, there are lines like “That’s why I’m living / today / that tomorrow doesn’t have” (“Christmas Eve”), for an unstable teenager whose wants change frequently, “Can’t I change? / Is it a dream only if it comes true? // If you’re happy while dreaming / It’s okay to change // Because even in change change change / I have three dreams” (“Change Change Change”), for adolescence, when there are difficulties in interpersonal relationships, which are particularly difficult, there are lines like “When I have my back to them / They all feel like backs // When I hug them / They all feel like arms” (“It’s Up to Me”), for a teenager, when there is trouble in interpersonal relationships, which are particularly difficult, there are lines like “When I have my back to them / They all feel like backs // When I hug them / They all feel like arms” (“Unknown Me”), for a teenager, when there is trouble in interpersonal relationships, there are lines like “I don’t know what it is / But it feels like I’ve become something / It feels like I’m bouncing around a world that’s still / It feels like I’m bouncing around” (“Unknown Me”), for a teenager, when there is trouble and exhaustion, there is someone by your side, “No matter how long the night is / We can cross it if we’re with our comrades” (“Let’s Be Comrades on the Winter Solstice”), etc.


On the borderline between being a child and an adult, the hearts of teenagers who live each day more fiercely than anyone else are filled with turmoil.
“There were many days when I felt like I was being chased / The world didn’t shun me / I didn’t shun the world / A vague feeling that the world and I / weren’t on the same side” (“The Cartoon Flower Has Blossomed”).
Even when nothing is happening, I feel lonely for no reason, and even when I feel like I can accomplish anything, the future feels distant and uncertain.
Poet Lee Jang-geun never says that it is wrong or that it should not be done that way.
Rather, “Those who live without knowing their own heart are truly poor” (“Heart Account Book”), and the more lonely and desolate they feel, the more they console themselves by saying, “I can do anything / because I have myself” (“1%”).
“I didn’t do well, but I just need to feel like I did it” (“Cow”).
After reading the entire collection of poems, the island-like heart that had been tightly closed off has become a “poem that tightly embraces a heart that no one has understood” (“The Heart Becomes an Island, and the Island Becomes Poetry”), and has become a sail ready to sail into each other’s hearts.

Poet's words

As I live in society,
There are many people around me too.
There is one in front, one behind, and one on the side.
Among them, my favorite place is
It's next to me.
I feel secure when someone is by my side.
It feels like being with a friend.
So me too
It's nice to have someone by your side.
Especially next to the disciples
It's a good time to share poetry.

May 2024
Lee Jang-geun