[Afternoon Poem] Quiet Work / Kim Sa-in

An evening that is neither here nor there

An early fallen leaf quietly lands beside me

With no choice but to just be here

It too silently just stays

Thank you

Actually, this is what I am grateful for

■ I do not know. I really do not know. I do not know what poetry is, what poetry looks like, or what poetry can do. Looking back, I realize I have never truly understood poetry at all. All I did was quietly carry a bowl of water drawn from the poet’s deep and pure well, filled to the brim, and quietly go to you. Worried that it might overflow or that even a speck of dust might settle on it, I was restless with such concerns. But to confess, while going to you, I spent a long time watching a butterfly fluttering, barely landing on a aster flower, then another long time listening to the sighs of an old woman selling greens in front of the subway station, and yet another long time watching snow quietly piling up under someone else’s eaves. By the time I realized it, I was standing in a strange neighborhood late in the evening after the sun had set. It happened every time. Every time it was a failure and a disappointment. I am just embarrassed and sorry. Still, to you who waited every time, I am truly grateful. Perhaps it was because you “just silently stayed” that I could linger beside poetry, even if only for a moment. Once again, I bow deeply to express my gratitude. I sincerely wish you well. Poet Chaesangwoo