Poems that colorfully describe our everyday life

and guide us toward the path of exploration

Drinking Beer Out of a Large Mug, the fourth book of poems by Poet Kim Eunji, who has been cheerily capturing everyday moments through poetry and prose, has been published. It consists of four parts, with a total of 45 poems.

Kim’s poems are vintage and are recycled at times. That’s what makes them always new, and they never leave a single word alone. They show kindness by constantly seeking new patterns from blotches, bringing unrelated words together, pairing them up, making them hold hands, and even describing how and where they became close. They also make the audience imagine unlimited scenery and scenes: sitting on the second floor of a café and gazing out the window, conjuring up the image of someone reading a novel on the train, or drinking a cup of warm tea on a cold winter day—all personal scenes of daily life that happen around us. Poet Im Jieun, who wrote the epilogue says, “The poems have the power to make readers look back on their own daily lives. So, they somehow made me feel warm inside while reading.” Kim’s words and breath come from the steady power of “just going on with” everyday life.

The poet, who’s known as “hobby-rich” among her acquaintances, takes walks that expand widely every time. Her consistent attitude of being aware of her own interests and continually striving to expand her worldview is always bright and smooth. The words in her grasp are gently sprayed onto our daily lives. Her sentences, which find common ground with the everyday lives of complete strangers, create empathy and make us check our own daily lives, always manage to come alive. Another reason we can relate to the book’s main theme of "everyday life" is its use of trivial yet familiar words. When you read her poems, you find yourself wanting to share “small but certain happiness,” creating another “bucket list,” finding the courage to shout “You got this,” and shaking off your heavy moods with hilarious jokes.