— Do Jong-hwan
Standing against things that rot,
one cannot still gleam white.
Amid flesh that decays,
while holding corruption close and enduring,
the sharp white light fades
and the stench of fish covered my body.
Seeing this, people say, "What kind of salt is that?"
Scripture recorded my duty as something holy,
but my role in this world
is to embrace the reeking world and endure,
to endure until I dissolve and vanish.
Today again my body melts away,
my former shape erased,
and seeing this, people say, "What kind of salt is that?"
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Can the salty taste disappear just because white salt turns dark? Can the flavor of salt be erased just because the smell of fish has seeped in? Those who say "What kind of salt is that?" are either allies of decay or people who have never known the taste of fermented paste. Who would forget the salt just because it lost its white gleam, dissolved into soy sauce and doenjang (fermented soybean paste)? You and all of us — like the deepening flavor of jang that grows richer the more the salt loses its color, the more it dissolves, the more it is erased.