[Afternoon Poem] To Voyager 1 / Ryu Seonghun

Night spreads in the water bottle

My brush is washed cold

Well-being is

Mostly just a dream balloon, dazzling

In cosmic radiation

With no dreams to discard, I drew

a soft-bodied creature resembling you, that extraterrestrial

Dry mouth, fully bloomed genitals,

The deep blue message of gravity-free arms

Congratulations

Though we didn’t even know how to shake hands

We always drew you on Earth

Over the communication of daydreams

Once more necessary than colorful balloons,

I scribble warm breaths, a hot brush

The bathroom window brightens

A blooming sunflower is drawn

That golden roughness too

Holding the question I thought was communication,

Where in the heliosphere

Am I chasing now?

■ Voyager 1 is an unmanned probe launched in September 1977, which passed Jupiter and Saturn and crossed the heliopause in 2012, now traveling through interstellar space. After reading this poem, I looked up at the night sky for a long time. Interstellar space! It was just so distant. So distant! To be honest, I have no idea how to describe that vast place Voyager 1 is crossing alone right now. But astonishingly, the poet is navigating "somewhere in the heliosphere," following Voyager 1 wandering somewhere in that incomprehensible space. It is a feat beyond daydreaming. ? Poet Chaesangwoo

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