Poet's words

Part 1: Here is the pattern on my skin

Arrival hall
In a closed library
Muse
Inter-season
reality
Low Countries
A man who came to borrow fire
We can't even be enemies
The good fortune continues
History of Love

Part 2: Each of us has our own ocean within us.

A cold wish
November
sleaze
caprice
lucid dreaming
Imitation of the evening
October
open kitchen
Nearby today
Whisper
Your door
Outdoor dining table

Part 3 I'm writing the best poem of my life

Poem to be written tomorrow
Crime and Punishment
To my junior
marsh
Like a movie without a climax
dry cleaning
Weekend conditions
The ring I threw
Pilgyun's bed
Moonlight
ventilation
Summer effect music

Part 4 My Soul Has Not Arrived Yet

The hotel was built on top of a graveyard.
Do you read me
Small Revolution
Cross-dressing man Mr. Arthur
Dorothea
How clumsy and helpless is this winged traveler
You weren't here
Silent time

Part 5: The nightmare comes true

The Poem of the Evil Angel
night flight
Secrets and Lies
allspice
Love song
co-working space
A Threepenny Song
In Texas
Quiet winter
Michu
locals
General knowledge
lonely person

Part 6: Poetry May Have Meaning

Old city
BGM
New Year's Youth Concert
Far-off minimalist life
pair
Neurenbach
An unknown acquaintance
Woman without a shadow
Christmas Edition
Yesterday's words
Freelancer
tomorrow

Commentary | Poem of Return | So Yoo-jeong (Literary Critic)

If only the things I have to tell you were as soft and sweet as a piece of cake

The speaker of the poem "Entry Hall," which opens the door to a poetry collection, waits for an American friend at the airport and ponders how to introduce the city.
Inside the airport, there is a “confectionery chain store” that has a high incidence of industrial accidents among workers.
Moreover, there are still sinister artists who sing the Muse song ("Muse") and people who criticize those who "prepared for their entire lives" for going to such a place to die ("New Year's Youth Concert") all over the city.
Nevertheless, the speaker wonders whether he can say that this is the place he loves.

There is a naked body washed up on the beach.
There are people watching the drowned body.

It's so real

Who is the person

(……)

Sitting on an aluminum subway seat, he imagines a woman coming from abroad.
Expect a real woman's touch that arrives with free shipping.
I'm browsing online shopping malls to find Girl Scout uniforms.
A woman who talks is tired
_In "Reality"

Speakers repeatedly fail to confirm their own existence.
"Reality" depicts how the outward identity of "women" and "real dolls" coincides with the perception of objectifying women.
If the appearance is the same and the perception of them as objects is the same, is it meaningful to distinguish between real dolls and women?
Objectified female speakers struggle to protect themselves and live with the word "thank goodness" as a habit.
The precarious existential consciousness of those whose dignity has been denied is captured in the verse, “Fortunateness does not mean having a lot of luck, but rather sounds like the sigh of someone who has escaped a crisis” (“Fortunateness Continues”).

Do you like music?
Do you like walking?
Do you like delicious food?

I hope you enjoy living too

(……)

What is life?
You said on your way home from work at the end of the year
I sent a condolence gift to the father of another department manager, worked overtime, and was so hungry I thought I would die.
He said going to work was a pain
I want to run away from what life is

(……)

During work, I like this time waiting for you the most
If I hadn't had an appointment to meet you, the whole day would have been horrible.
I also sigh habitually like you

While you worry about pimples and freckles on your face
I wish I could burst out in laughter
_From "To My Junior"

Although Kim I-deum is disillusioned with the absurdity and is spending his days in danger, pondering his existence, he does not hesitate to support his junior by saying, “I hope you enjoy life too.”
“No matter how much I want to kill you, // don’t die” (“The Ring I Thrown”), he holds on to those beings that are drifting away like a buoy and persuades them to live once more.
Although tears are welling up in both eyes, “while you blink/you are like my lighthouse/we can find each other” (“Low”).
Kim I-deum's narrator has a conviction, almost instinctive, that if they follow each other's footsteps, even if at a slow pace, they will be able to encounter beautiful moments in life.

Until we no longer confuse what is transparent with what is not

Kim I-deum summons everyday episodes into her poetry to uncover the gaps in familiarity.
In the embarrassing story of two friends who realize their political stances differ while eating jajangmyeon ("Can't Be Enemies") and "I" ("Unknown Friend") who asks an acquaintance why he walks with a limp and later finds out that he has a disability due to polio, we realize the stark truth that we can never fully know others.

Even though Kim I-deum's speaker knows this fact, he does not stop and looks at other beings with his whole body.
A window that has been cleaned and made transparent may seem like it is not there at first glance, but it tells us that a bird can hit it and die, or a person's nose can be broken ("Interim Season").
While pondering whether we can hastily console the trees that are designated as endangered trees and are in danger of being cut down, we change our perspective and think, “Perhaps the trees want to be cut down” (“Like a Movie Without a Climax”).

This multifaceted observation leads to an interest in and questioning of essence.
Because I have a profound desire to know “where the thing you love comes from” (“Allspice”), I continue to look into the essence of the world and existence through poetry.
Literary critic So Yoo-jeong explains that the shape resembles a flying object that is returning to its original state.
In the psalms that keep crashing into our hearts, even though they know they will be hurt, we hear a burst of hope, announcing that there are those who do not give up on this contradictory world, and at the same time, a cry of relief, holding on to those who are losing themselves.

The poet's exploration of the essence of love will continue for some time.
At least while he was writing poetry.
The desire to die can be put to sleep by writing, and as you write, you will find yourself asking about love again.
When asked by a reader about his “representative work,” he replied, “I haven’t written my representative work yet.”
As he answered, “I plan to write it tomorrow or the day after” (in “Poem to Write Tomorrow”), the love he seeks is in the delayed time.
That is why Kim I-deum's poetry returns tomorrow.
Because I cannot love this city now, because I do not know its meaning today, I spread my wings again toward the repeating tomorrow.
_So Yu-jeong (literary critic), in the commentary

A mini-interview with poet Kim I-deum

Q1.
The poetry collection “Transparent and Absent” has been published.
This is your eighth poetry collection since your debut in 2001.
I'm curious about your feelings about presenting this collection of poems.


- I'm very excited but also nervous.
This collection of poems contains a lot of unpublished and newly written poems that have not been included anywhere else, so I'm curious to see how readers will enjoy them.

Q2.
I'm curious how you came up with the title 'Transparent and Absent'.

- I decided the titles of the seven poetry collections published so far on my own.
However, the title of this poetry collection, ‘The Transparent and the Absent,’ was chosen from among several titles selected by the editors of Munhakdongne.
A sharp-eyed editor discovered the title in a shallow crevice in my sentence.
thank you
'Transparency and non-existence' may be opposite concepts in terms of clarity, but they may also be very similar in that they are 'invisible.'
I want to write poetry that seeks the beauty of the invisible world, of beings that are considered nonexistent, and of things that cannot be described in words.

Q3.
In the psalms, we can feel the sorrow and anger toward the absurdity of the world.
Nevertheless, the speaker wants to love this world and live loving it.
I think many people will sympathize with this mixed feeling.
Why do we find the strength to love again even when we are hurt?

- Everyone lives feeling regret and anger at the absurdity of the world.
Each of us struggles with or tries to resolve those emotions.
I look at the world while writing poetry with a bleeding heart.
If I do that, I have no choice but to swim and explore my inner self, which is like a dirty puddle.
Even though I was overcome with frustration, I realized that I couldn't live in isolation from this world.
Ultimately, I am a person who likes to observe and interact with people.
I don't really know about love.
I think love comes in a myriad of colors.
Is it a good thing for a society to view those who don't love as criminals? I'm more sensitive to the numerous instances of violence committed in the name of love.
I don't think it's love to hurt others, even if it means getting hurt yourself.


Q4.
In this collection of poems, the speaker's will to view existence from a multifaceted perspective also stands out.
In poems like “Like a Movie Without a Climax,” we continue to look at the forest world and try to understand it, even if we “cannot dare to guess.”
I found the speaker's heart precious, seeking to look beyond human-centered thinking and respect the abyss of existence.

- “Life is either Niagara or nothing.
Mary Oliver's words come to mind: "I will not be the ruler of a single blade of grass, but will be its sister" (『Long Breath』, Mind Walk, p. 118).
I don't think humans are superior to round dirt or old seashells.

Q5.
Lastly, please say hello to the readers who will appreciate 『Transparent and Absent』.

- I don't think my poetry has any practical use as a tool.
I didn't mean to do that... ...but I don't have any lovely pieces to use as proposal lines or wedding songs.
It's almost blank, like the title of the poetry collection.
But I would like to open the doorknob of my house and come in and run around and have a little fun.

Poet's words

I don't have anything
Because it's with poetry
My life was full and happy
Yesterday at a community center in the countryside
We heard the acceptance speeches of rookies in their twenties.
I shed tears
I'm not the only one living a strange life.

November 2023
At the house where writing is born in Damyang
Kim Yi-deum