LTI Korea 
DLKL 
SIWF 
Two Poems by Yoo Seonhye scrap
by Yoo Seonhye
Translated by Min Ji Choi
March 4, 2026
Author Bio 작가 소개
Yoo Seonhye
Motel & Moth
Why does knowledge come only once all acts are over and done with
When actively walking into self-destruction
I tend to think how beautiful
This building is full of rooms
Like the warning on the cigarette packet that you just remembered
And the lung brimming with contaminated cells
Like the slow pain that arrives by the time you hear
There’s nothing more we can do
He left—incompletely
extinguished cigarette butt billowed smoke into the room and when I opened the slight window a heap of dead moths between the screen and the frame
Body hair, alcohol, breath, carbon dioxide, phlegm, body fluids, moans, or screams
It is yet to be clarified why a moth flies toward the light
This building is full of people’s exhalations right now
Human beings want to be beaten want to be drunk want to wobble want to forget want to pant want to cry want to faint it seems
Moths are known to rely on the moonlight to orient their flight
As most of their species are nocturnal
Turn against the light:
Rule of moth
Maybe this isn’t what I wanted
A light too bright comes in the shape of pollution not salvation
So we can’t tell where’s up and where’s down
Is what I mean
Playing with fingers or walking aimlessly in a busy street with shoulders pressed against each other waiting for cues like should we go in somewhere or finding an unfamiliar tattoo or caressing the frown peeking through a tussle of hair or a series of such events maybe
None of that I ever wanted
The artificial light surging in from all directions is opaque at least
Throwing myself into fire
As if a moth never loved a light bulb
You know
Like it was homicide and not a suicide
Human beings do not want to disappear do not want to become fragments do not want to hurt do not want to leave do not want to be forgotten do not want to be torn or to burn ablaze
and just want
to live on
it seems
I force the ill-fitting window shut
the bodies of the moths crumble and their crushed wings get jammed in the screen and rustle
Turn against the light
Leave one another
As utter nonmeaning
What I mean is
I think I just wanted to live
Like it or not humans leave traces on humans
Cigarette smell, addiction, youth, financial gain, family, life, vertigo, ecstasy, strangle marks, eternal dream, future, HPV
Raven Paradox*
Do you know that there exist ornithologists amongst birds as there do anthropologists amongst humans? R, a renowned professor in ornithology and a raven, was reported missing one day. The investigation yielded a letter. The complete text of R’s letter is as follows:
Dear fellow ravens,
There is a theory that I have long propounded and that has been accepted in our society as common sense. That is the claim that “all ravens are black.” The black color of our feathers has been the basis of our time-honored identity as a species. Even to call it a “claim” would have been embarrassing, so established was its status as a truth-statement.
Then tragedy struck me one day. I found, buried deep within my wings, a single white feather. I questioned my reflection in the mirror. Had I finally gone mad? But as you know, we ravens are one of the few animals with the capacity to recognize ourselves in the mirror. Apparently, humans call this the mirror test. The white feather was clearly there. Seized by anxiety, I began observing myself in the mirror each morning and checking my wings. The white feathers only multiplied with time.
The statement “all ravens are black” is logically equivalent to the statement “if something is not black, then it is not a raven.” White milk is not a raven, white paper is not a raven, and white snow is not a raven. At first, I plucked the feathers one by one. My skin reddened and swelled. It was painful. Then the number of white feathers grew uncontrollably. I agonized over what to do. My heart sank every time I faced their whiteness. If one day they were to take over my entire body . . . If someone were to discover my white feathers . . .
Granted, I could revise the theory that “all ravens are black.” But I have invested too much in it. I have flown every day to foreign lands to observe the ravens of this entire world. I have dissected more bodies of my kin than I can count. Meanwhile, my spouse and my children have turned away from me in exasperation, and I traded the disintegration of my family for fame. Powerful politicians asked for my advice. Giving up on this theory means a death sentence for me. I believe I have thoroughly proven it. The theory is my life itself, and I cannot accept such a thing as a white raven.
My body is already half covered in white. I cannot hide this any longer by plucking my feathers, and I am tired of wiping the blood afterwards. Therefore, I have reached the following conclusion:
I am not a raven.
From now on, do not call me a raven. I am one strange organism that cannot be classified. I am sure you would not want to undergo the unpleasant experience of finding a white raven and having to correct your common sense. Thus, I have made the decision to leave for the snowy north. If I become completely white . . . no one should find me there. My reflection in the mirror will become transparent. The mirror test will become useless. As such you have no reason to revise my theory. I am not a raven and therefore all ravens are still black.
Yours,
A now unidentifiable R
* This poem was influenced by philosopher and logician Carl Gustav Hempel’s “raven paradox” and the quote “the philosophy of science is as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds,” often attributed to the physicist Richard Feynman. There is no substantive evidence that these were Feynman’s actual words.
Translator 번역가 소개
Min Ji Choi
Min Ji Choi is a fledgling translator between Korean and English. She is currently a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Harvard University. She took part in the 2025 ALTA Emerging Translators Mentorship Program with the project Transvestite Shikoku by Hwang Byeongseung.
Did you enjoy this article? 별점
Did you enjoy this article? Please rate your experience
More From Issue Vol. 71 Spring 2026
![[FRENCH] A Portrait of the Feminist as a Korean Woman](/_img/www/comn/noimg_190x235.png)
