Written by Seo Yunhu (서윤후), published in 2016, part of the collection 어느 누구의 모든 동생 (All the younger brothers of someone). Original poem available here..

Veja também: tradução em Português.

The Taste of Candy and the Seashore(사탕과 해변의 맛)

Seo Yunhu

Of all the castoffs dumped at the seashore, I was the most useful one
Filling in for what abandoned people have lost
In a world where abandoned people get picked up
Where would our capital city have been? 
Under the shade of a handspan of parasols, all of us
Left behind for good in the lost-and-found,
Become a piece for sightseeing.

    *

They are like dessert for the ocean waves, the lovers sitting in circles, melting like candy of the only flavour they know
The undulating waves lick them apart
Oh, love that melts away, from the tip of the toes, until it loses shape 
They said “I love you” too much, the lovers who are belligerently jealous, and the world seems sweet and mellow at last

    *

I like to call it “the seashore”
I hate getting drenched in the seawater but the words washed up on the shore are like the candy that one sets aside, to enjoy later 

    *

Of all the candy I have ever tasted, you were the worst one 

The metaphor for something akin to you in
The crystals between the sugar and the salt

    *

Made sticky by your words,
Playing with the wounds in my mouth, with my tongue I tasted the blood and I thought it tasted sweet, an unknown sweetness, slowly waning 

    *

A world inundated by the sea 
But you weren’t much
More than a swimfin

    *

At the edge of my sleeves, there is a shore
Where candy, drenched in clumsy face washes and wiped up tears,
Floats around until it melts away, where
I learn swimming that never dries up

With every ounce of strength I have