Culture Friday: Live Octopus, a poem

photo by annamatic3000 / poem by Won Tae Yon, trans. by TDT

chop, chop, chop
cutting off the octopus’ legs
chop, chop, chop
cutting off the octopus’ head
with spicy garlic
and sweet hot pepper sauce
I gnaw, chew and swallow
along with your selfish heart
that left me

“산낙지” by 원태연. First published in 1992.

***

TDT is still experimenting with a weekly format. ‘Culture Friday’ will be a mix of fiction, poetry, literature and photography that either focuses on travel or conveys perspectives from other parts of the world. Both original work and the work of others will appear. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

‘Living Carelessly in Tokyo’

Via New York Times writer Howard French, author and translator John Nathan has a new book coming out that chronicles “life at the center of the arts and intellectual scene in Tokyo (and elsewhere) in the 1960s.” French received a pre-publication copy of Nathan’s Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere, and had some high praise for it.

Nathan has translated the works of such famous Japanese authors as Yukio Mishima, a fervent nationalist who killed himself by ritual seppuku (but not before making a chilling film about it), and according to Wikipedia Nathan was also the first American to be admitted to Tokyo University as a regular student.

With the unique window that Nathan likely has into Japanese culture it looks to be a good read for the literary traveler.