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JAIME PERMUTH

  • Quisicuaba
  • BLINDNESS
  • Olmedini El Mago
  • The Street Becomes
  • Yonkeros
  • El Sistema
  • Before the Eclipse
  • Beijing
  • Vota Así
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    • If I Ruled the World, 2011
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    • The Completely Visible World
    • Tarzan Lopez
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    • The Jewish Identity Project :: Carmen's essay
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    • "In Frame" Arirang TV - Episode One
    • "In Frame" Arirang TV - Episode Two
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© Jaime Permuth, 2025

 

JAIME PERMUTH

I walked down the hill

Added on November 6, 2025 by Jaime Permuth.

Another aspect of Gwanghapdan that I treasure is that all our members consider writing an extension of their artistic practice. But none of us could ever match Ok Hyun Ahn @ahnokhyun for the soaring flights of her imagination:

“I walked down the hill and climbed up another, a round, low mountain scattered with mounds.

Bodies of this village, long ago, had come to rest beneath the soil.

On the mounds sat young women and men, their faces bright with happiness, their bodies pressed close. An empty can glinted in the sunlight.

A bag of snacks drifted lightly, beautifully, through the air.

I was there, in the middle of that scene.

Desires—cheap and gaudy as fireworks.

Fears—harder to endure than any meaningless outcry.

I saw them, both of them, within me”.

언덕길을 내려와 다시 둥근 낮은 산으로 올랐다.

산 위엔 봉분들이 흩어져 있었다.

오래전 이 마을의 몸들이 흙 속에 잠든 자리였다.

봉분 위에는 앳된 처녀와 총각들이 행복한 얼굴로 몸을 밀착한 채 앉아 있었고, 빈 깡통은 햇빛 속에서 반짝였다.

과자 봉지는 가볍게, 아름답게 공기 위를 떠돌았다.

그 풍경 한가운데 내가 있었다.

싸구려 폭죽보다 더 경박했던 욕망들, 알아들을 수 없는 악다구니보다 더 참기 어려운 두려움, 그것들이 내 안에 있음을 나는 보았다.

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