The bloodstained and the bloodless are hanging on the boundary
JO, Yun-jai, a promising poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares his poem
Poet Mr. JO, Yun-jai was born in Daegu, in 1998 and currently resides in Daejeon, South Korea. He began writing poetry during his high school years, and since 2020, his poetry has been featured in publications such as Siindongne, Hyeondaesihag, and Poetry and Boundaries. In 2021, he was recognized as a promising young poet representing Korea’s youth by the Symbolology Institute, a quarterly magazine specializing in avant-garde pure poetry. Furthermore, in 2022, he was chosen as a recipient of the Arko Creation Fund, providing him with creative support for his work.
Once Upon a Time in Noir
A gun without an owner
Is shooting at a wooden chair.
The bloodstained and the bloodless are hanging on the boundary.
The chair spills blood and breaks from the legs.
Observers have such thoughts. Blood missed a person.
People covering their faces with their hands
Cameras capturing those people
There is no film
The night fog belongs to those who postpone the next paragraph.
Unknown sightings
Whose was the abandoned broken object originally?
Looking at the chilling broken chair
Taking deep breaths one by one.
Hand on the chest, black rain falling as many times as the heart beats.
People who don’t explain what they are watching.
Drawing only pictures in their minds, swirling around the background is like a swamp rather than black and white.
People died in the movie theater.
By the villain shooting towards the camera.
Some did not stop catching the sounds of clouds
Gunshots escape through the air everywhere.
As rumors and villains expand
The smell of gunpowder paralyzes the mouths of passing people
In the next area, the mafia constantly releases gunpowder for territorial disputes.
That chair must have belonged to someone’s family.
When you see blood pouring out, hysterics spreading like currents.
Hysterics without tears.
There isn’t even a single wavelength in the camera capturing that.
Since there was no intention to leave from the beginning, countless households will be discarded outside again today, shedding blood.
So, can I ask for one favor?
Can you give me just one cigarette?
If you don’t, I’ll set this alley on fire.
There is no light stronger than fog.
***
원스 어폰 어 타임 인 느와르
조윤재
주인 없는 권총이
나무 의자를 쏘고 있다.
피가 묻어 있는 것과 피가 묻지 않은 것은 경계에 매달려 있다. 의자는 피를 흘리며 다리부터 부서지고. 지켜보는 사람들은 이런 생각을 한다. 피가 사람을 누락했다고.
손으로 얼굴을 가리는 사람들
그 사람들을 찍는 카메라
필름이 없고
밤안개는 다음 단락을 유보하는 사람들의 것이다.
알려지지 않은 목격들
저 망가진 채 버려진 물건은 원래 누구 거였지?
싸늘해진 채 부서진 의자를 보며
심호흡을 하나 둘
가슴에 손을 얹고, 심장이 뛰는 횟수만큼, 내리는 까만 빗물. 지금 무엇을 보는 중인지 설명하지 않는 사람들. 머릿속에 그림만 그려지고, 배경을 휩쓰는 것은 흑백보다도 늪지대 같은 것이다.
영화관에서 사람들이 죽었지.
카메라를 향해 총을 쏘던 괴한에 의해.
몇몇은 뜬구름 잡는 소리를 멈추지 않았고
총 소리는 공기를 타고 여기저기로 탈출한다.
소문과 괴한이 팽창 될수록
화약 냄새는 지나가는 사람들의 입가를 마비시키고
옆 구역에선 마피아들이 구역쟁탈을 위해
끊임없이 화약을 내보인다.
그 의자는 누군가의 가족이 쓰던 거겠지. 피가 새어나오는 모습을 보면, 전류처럼 퍼지는 히스테리들. 눈물 없는 히스테리들. 그걸 찍는 카메라에는 어떠한 파장조차 없다. 처음부터 남길 생각이 없으니까, 오늘도 피 흘린 수많은 가구들이 바깥에 버려질 것이다.
그러니 부탁 하나만 하지
담배 하나만 줄 수 있겠나?
주지 않으면 이 골목을 불태워 버릴 테니까.
안개보다 강한 빛은 없다.
___________________
