Kim Young Tag
Moderator 
Poet Dr. Kim Young Tag
Poet Dr. Kim Young Tag (金永卓) was born in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province. He earned his doctorate in Venture Business Administration, with a specialization in Cultural and Arts Management, from the Graduate School of Venture Studies at Hoseo University. His literary career began in 1998 with his debut in the quarterly poetry journal Sian. Since then, he has published several notable works, including the poetry collections When the Sound of Birds Makes the Body Bow to the Distant Mountains and Refrigerator Woman, as well as the prose volume Poetic Taste: Exploring the Flavor and Style of Korean Art.
In recognition of his contributions, he received the 2nd Maegye Literary Award. Today, he continues to be active in both academia and publishing, serving as an invited professor at Hoseo University, a member of the ISO Publishing Committee, and the editor-in-chief of the quarterly literary magazine the spring of Literature.
Drum Tree
From the subway train, a person sometimes seems like a tree.
When you look at a person as you would a tree, that person becomes tree-like.
Where a tree should be rooted,
where a tree should stand holding up the sky, a person drifts instead,
like a nomad, like a wanderer,
floating up to the subway ceiling.
At such times, the one trapped inside the drum’s echo, crying,
tears through the drum with fingernails,
like the sharp sprouting seed of a tree.
And then, the quickly growing branches
carry those who doze, or read the newspaper,
or glance sideways,
stealing looks at a beautiful person-all dangling together on the branches,
becoming one great tree.
북나무
전동차에서 바라본 사람은 어쩌면 나무 같다는 생각이 든다
나무를 바라보듯 사람을 바라보면 그 사람 나무 같다
나무가 뿌리내려 있어야 할 자리에
나무가 허공을 받치고 서 있어야 할 자리에
사람은 유목민처럼, 혹은 유랑자처럼
둥둥, 전동차 천정까지 떠다니는 것이다
그럴 때 울리는 북 속에 갇혀 우는 사람이
손톱으로 북을 찢고 나오는,
뾰족 솟아나는 나무의 씨앗 같기도 하다
또, 그러할 땐 빨리 자라나는 가지는,
졸고 있거나 신문을 보거나,
혹은 가자미눈으로,
예쁜 사람을 흘긋거리는 사람을
가지에 주렁주렁 달고 다 같이 나무가 된다
Prepared for publication by Angela Kosta
