We must never stop asking questions

There seems to be something very wrong with the world. The war began in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. The armed conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated into another war. Numerous civilians are being sacrificed. I heard that over 3,000 children had died in just three weeks in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Who wants war? Hermann Göring, who was the Reich Marshal of the Nazi regime, said at the Nuremberg Trials, “Ordinary people do not want war,” and “Ordinary people have no choice but to go to war when their leader decides.” Moreover, “it is very easy to call people to war,” he said. “’They are being attacked by the enemy.’ in danger “You can just say ‘the one who leaves out.’”

While driving along Jayu-ro from Paju, Gyeonggi-do to Seoul to work, I heard about the war situation on the radio. Nothing has changed. He arrived safely at the lecture hall and only had to talk for two hours about ‘the role of literature’. All I had to do was speak according to the lecture notes I had prepared. Shame came flooding back to me all at once. Over the past few years, he has written several poems about the war. He collected them and bound them into a book of poetry. If you look closely, it was literary material. In the face of so many deaths, he shamelessly scribbled down something like poetry. What was I doing when the being next to me disappeared without a sound?

When I was in the 6th grade of elementary school, I had a friend with a developmental disability in my class. I often saw boys who were bigger than my peers bullying my friend by pulling his bag, but I pretended not to notice. Even her homeroom teacher was mean to her, hitting her in the face with her blackboard eraser, but she tried to do it. I got a black eye while playing games with my cousin, who was left at my house due to family circumstances, and I didn’t do it even though I had a chance to mature and apologize later. Wasting time like that was the beginning of my cowardice.

Lee Rang’s second full-length album, “God’s Play,” asks, “What does it mean to you to be born and live in Korea?”<신의 놀이>) It starts with the question: In commemoration of Armed Forces Day, the military marched through the streets, led by tanks and armored vehicles, from Sungnyemun Gate to Gwanghwamun under the slogan, “A strong Armed Forces, strong security, and peace through strength.” The force fires thousands of rockets, airstrikes churches, hospitals, and schools, and destroys livelihoods. And make them forget. we know The fact that there are no winners in any war. we know “People are still waiting for good stories to come out.”

What should we say to people who say that everything in the world is like that? Lee Rang said, “There seems to be something very wrong with this” (<가족을 찾아서>) and said back. He described his “feelings of helplessness or fear” (<세상 모든 사람들이 나를 미워하기 시작했다>) I confess. I repeat. “Questions about yourself” in your diary (<평범한 사람>), write it down in full. We must not stop asking questions. No one can silence our mouths.

But in the face of all this, writing sometimes feels like a useless task. As the world continues to fall apart, as people continue to die, as children continue to cry in ruined cities, “We didn’t do anything wrong.” Sitting alone, refining sentences and crafting language.

I hope that in the future, when I’m wandering down the street, someone will call my name.

Reports say that over 200 people died in one day.

They say you can’t write if you don’t believe in the future… … .

It was quiet yesterday and today too.

If I could call your name out loud.

Poet Choi Ji-in

*Your song, my pride: Expressing your love for song through poetry <일하고 일하고 사랑을 하고> The story of poet Choi Ji-in’s song. Published every three weeks.