The Growth of a Shadow Selected Poems of Taejoon Moon

by Moon, Taejoon; Kim, Won-Chung; Merrill, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780982746639
• ISBN10: 0982746636
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-20
• Publisher: Autumn Hill Books

Summary

A collection of 71 poems by Korean author Taejoon Moon, these selected works bring a deeper meaning to the ordinary aspects of everyday life through Moon's keen observations of his surroundings combined with his use of rich details. Inviting a different level of understanding, these observationsfrom a woman struggling with cancer to a flower dying in a pot to a herd of black goatsdemonstrate Moon's profound engagement with the world around him and encourages the same in his readers. Not only displaying an appreciation of the beauty and simplicity of everyday life, this collection also illustrates contemporary Korean literature and society with minimally elegant style.

Author Biography

Taejoon Moon has received the East and West Literary Award, the Nojak Literary Award, the Yoosim Literary Award, the Soweol Literary Award, and the Midang Literary Award. He is the author of Flatfish, Murmuring Backyard, and Naked Foot. Won-Chung Kim has translated eight books of Korean poetry into English, including Heart’s Agony, and translated My First Summer in the Sierra into Korean from English. Christopher Merrill directs the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program and is the author of Brilliant Water and Things of the Hidden God. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. viii
Flatfish	p. 1
Japanese Dogwood Farming	p. 2
A Dog Giving Her Teats to Her Pups	p. 3
Flowers Open	p. 4
Around That Time	p. 5
Extreme Poverty	p. 6
In the Moment	p. 7
A Cicada Entering the Persimmon Tree	p. 8
Bottom	p. 9
A Short Nap	p. 10
A Breath	p. 11
The Growth of a Shadow	p. 12
Naked Foot	p. 13
In My Father's Abandoned Orchard	p. 14
Mire	p. 15
Horizontality	p. 17
Worm Poetry, Inc.	p. 18
Yearning: Inside Water	p. 19
Water Lily	p. 20
The Outside	p. 21
Extreme Poverty (2): A Single Room	p. 22
Sack	p. 23
Flatfish (2)	p. 24
Whoops!	p. 25
Metaphor of a Vine	p. 26
The Beloved Smell of Cooked Rice	p. 27
A Strange Vase	p. 28
Metaphor of the Day Moon	p. 29
Ginkgo Tree Behind Unmoon Temple	p. 30
Surprised by Color	p. 31
The Delivery of a Japanese Apricot Tree	p. 33
Confusion	p. 34
Alluding to a Toad: Poetry	p. 35
For No Reason	p. 36
Flower Pot	p. 37
Me, a Wheelbarrow	p. 38
One's Whole Life	p. 40
Magnolia	p. 41
It Sways	p. 42
Love	p. 43
Spring Sunlight	p. 44
Extreme Poverty (3): The Field	p. 45
Distance	p. 46
A Jocular Postman	p. 47
Wrinkled Shirt	p. 48
Pond at Dawn	p. 51
Like a Sleeping Dog	p. 52
Love of a Walnut Tree	p. 53
First Love	p. 54
Ant	p. 55
Drizzle	p. 56
The Empty House	p. 57
My Mind in the Haunted House	p. 58
Passing the Cave	p. 59
Oh, Mother	p. 60
Seduction	p. 61
Hackberry Family	p. 62
Red Camellia	p. 63
Millstone	p. 64
The Spot Where the Flowers Are Gone	p. 65
Wild Pear Tree	p. 66
Station-facing Barbershop	p. 67
Tongue	p. 68
One Day, What We Believed To Be the Center	p. 69
A Woman Called the Last Day of the Month	p. 70
Lovers	p. 71
Note on translators	p. 72
Note on poet	p. 73
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