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A review by pearloz
Three Poets of Modern Korea: Yi Sang, Hahm Dong-seon, and Choi Young-mi by Hahm Dong-seon, Choi Young-mi, Yi Sang, Yu Jung-yul, James Kimbrell
4.0
the Yi Sang poems were a little strange, as expected. Butterfly was easily my favorite of the numbered poems. But his best poems were the first two in the collection, about the Toy Bride.
Hahm Dong-seon was a solid poet, every one of his poems ended with a real gut-punch of a line. Here he is looking at his reflection in a window: "my mother's face rises up in mine/and from her face the quick rain streams down." At the end of his autumn poem we get these fine lines: "in my heart/a parched leaf is always sculling past." Great stuff.
The last poet, Choi Young-mi, was the best of the three. She's also the most contemporary and maybe that has something to do with it? Her poems seem more...calculated, like they were labored over longer, like they were constructed. I look forward to reading more of her poetry.
Hahm Dong-seon was a solid poet, every one of his poems ended with a real gut-punch of a line. Here he is looking at his reflection in a window: "my mother's face rises up in mine/and from her face the quick rain streams down." At the end of his autumn poem we get these fine lines: "in my heart/a parched leaf is always sculling past." Great stuff.
The last poet, Choi Young-mi, was the best of the three. She's also the most contemporary and maybe that has something to do with it? Her poems seem more...calculated, like they were labored over longer, like they were constructed. I look forward to reading more of her poetry.