We think we write at the risk our lives,
but nobody points a gun
at us.
That is the tragedy.
Twirling the world like a pink hula-hoop round our waists,
we ate meals,
had drinks,
waited all the time,
and finally
shot each other.
JIN Eun-young (b. 1970) majored in philosophy at Ewha Womans University and Graduate School, receiving her Ph. D for her research on Nietzsche. Her poetry collections include Dictionary with Seven Words (2003) and Every day, We (2008). For her, writing poetry proves the most agreeable method of communicating and exchanging with the world. Perhaps her writing activities are, like the waving branches furthest from our reach, nothing but weak, fragile acts. But her poetic and philosophical distance from the center means she is free to come in contact with other beings and objects. For her, poetry is a surprise created by fingers stretching out to the world rather than to her own body.
