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  • Weather Map
  • Kirim Kim
    Translated by Jung Jack Saebyok (bio)

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Kim Kirim, Weather Map (Kisangdo), Seoul: Ch’angmunsa, 1936. Image courtesy of the journal Kŭndae sŏji (modern bibliography), published by Somyŏng ch’ulp’an.

[End Page 209]


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Kim Kirim, Weather Map (Kisangdo), Seoul: Ch’angmunsa, 1936. Image courtesy of the journal Kŭndae sŏji (modern bibliography), published by Somyŏng ch’ulp’an.

The Morning of the World

Scale- Embossed Straits Like a snake’s back Came to life, and Young mountains were wrapped in glimmering Arabian clothes.

Winds were smooth like Saracen silks by the sea, And the proud landscape lay on its side at the apex of 7 AM. [End Page 210]

On the gasping fields An old scent was scattered by The rusty tolling from a chapel. It was time for cows to return to the fields. Today a lady let yet another steamship be pushed out to sea.

At a station near the border, Pressing the conductor to give the signal, An international train stomped its feet. By each car’s window A madam’s contorted face Was weeping, after swallowing “farewell.” Passenger planes scattered like dust over the continent’s sky.

To test the effectiveness of long-distance radio signals from his home country, A gentleman’s family was travelling to Genève. Champagne. Deck. “Goodspeed.” “I’ll be back.” The sailors let their ship’s whistle finish their sighs And returned to their posts.

Over the dock, five-color streamers waved in the wind. In the woman’s hair was a five-color ribbon.

Carrier pigeons Leapt from the ship’s roof And left for the capital. . . . East of Sumatra . . . 5 kilometers on the sea . . . no member of the party has a cold. The equator is near. . . . 10 in the morning of the 20th. . . . . [End Page 211]


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Kim Kirim, Weather Map (Kisangdo), Seoul: Ch’angmunsa, 1936. Image courtesy of the journal Kŭndae sŏji (modern bibliography), published by Somyŏng ch’ulp’an.

Citizens Parade

The white cannibal in a necktie Said he likes negro food more than turkey. The skin-whitening power of black meat. It was Dr. Colbert’s prescription. Helmet-wearing summer vacationers Obsessed over the messy sport of war. The referee, a sad soloist, blew his whistle. Because he was so aroused, The fascist wore nothing but his underwear. However, in Italy, [End Page 212]

Laxatives were said to be absolutely illegal. After everything, Madam Soong Mae-ling learned to wear western clothes. In America, Because all the women have gone to sunbathe at the beach, In an empty house, a nostalgia-singing negro and a rat became the best of comrades. Today too, Parisian husbands had no better choice than to think of suicide’s sanitation, And Soo-man, who lives next door, finally after 3 months, Got hired for a boring job, calling for the car of an old manager first thing in the morning. And all that the dictator has to do is hit his desk While pronouncing one adverb, “Absolutely, Absolutely.” Because Oriental women are dissatisfied with all four seasons, It’s a mystery how the cabbage seller waits for them to bring their gathered complaints. The public park was proudly presented to the world by Prime Minister McDonald As a national institution for the unemployed, as it has always been. The believers placed their Bibles where it was easy to stumble on them. Prayer has become a pretext for sinning. “Thank you. Amen.” “Thank you, madam, spare some change, please. The reason why my face is disfigured like this, The reason why my arm is broken like this, And I say this only to you, madam, is not because my mother sinned.” “Shush! It’s the memorial parade for the unknown soldier.” Klopp Klopp Klopp . . . [End Page 213]


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Kim Kirim, Weather Map (Kisangdo), Seoul: Ch’angmunsa, 1936. Image courtesy of the journal Kŭndae sŏji (modern bibliography), published by Somyŏng ch’ulp’an.

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