Korean Short Stories
Choi Jeongrye Peackok 공작새 Translated by Wayne de Fremery
Information This work was previously published in New Writing from Korea . Please contact the LTI Korea Library. library@klti.or.kr
About Choi Jeongrye Choi's poems usually originate from a profound contemplation of time and memory. For Choi, the process of identifying her true and unknown self embedded in the fragments of time and memory is a tool for understanding others and the world at large. What ultimately emerges from her exploration of fragmented memories and chaos of time is the sense of emptiness and loneliness that forms the very core of existence. A product of the poet’s ceaseless effort to pioneer a new frontier in her spiritual existence by unraveling the tangled relationship between memory and present existence, Choi’s poetic language is simple but intense, boldly rejecting sentimentalism as well as conventionalism. Plain words used in everyday conversations become unfamiliar all of a sudden, creating moments of fresh insight that reveal sorrow and pain of living. Everyday experiences entwine with fragments of forgotten memory to reveal the emptiness of life and destroy the idea of self as a solid, clearly defined being. Despite such dark subject matters, however, Choi’s language remains dynamic and full of life. LTI Korea eLibrary: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/391
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Peackok The peacock outside the art gallery is dressed in feathers the color of an emerald I once saw in a ring. Giving away his crest that wobbles as he totters to be the trademark of Prince brand crayons, he drags his fanned tail over wet ground. Was there ever a duchess who no longer wished to be beautiful, having once been found beautiful? Where should all those jewelled rings be put down? Old ladies dragging their skirts on muddy ground, forgetting they are birds, grope for a corner, fearing the footsteps of young pranksters. What will the old ladies do with the spark in the blue eyes Set in their feathers? In the hometown left behind it seems there is a subway stop called Crimson Star.
It seems it's been left too far behind,
and there is no return. Copyright 2008 Literature Translation Institute of Korea
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