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Snowman to heaven

Posted December. 10, 2022 07:25,   

Updated December. 10, 2022 07:25

한국어

Pure, white, and clean is beautiful. A lot of people have thought so for a very long time. But today, things are a bit different. It is sad to be pure, white, and clean in our society. Pure won't last long. White will be denigrated as weak. Neat things will get dirty easily. We have gone through innocent times and reached the present where we are not. So, we know that even if it were once beautiful, it wouldn't last long; it would soon disappear.

We call it "rare" when it becomes scarcer because it gets harder to find. According to the logic of capitalism, it is out of the question because preserving endangered rarities can never make money. But if someone has to do it, that person will be this poet. Poets are such people by nature. Because they existed long before capitalism, the ancients who cannot adapt to the logic of money are poets.

If you insist that poets who keep sad innocence do not exist these days, I will dare to say that Hwang Yoo-won, who received the Contemporary Literature Award, is an exception. He is alone and lonesome, but he will tell you to look at this snowman who is innocent but dirty, yet clean without blaming anyone. The sad snowman, who seems to have degenerated and been renewed, is somehow reminiscent of our own selves. This sense of déjà vu will be a small bonus when appreciating this poem.