Dongwon Nam · First poetry collection · A web exhibition

Open the Door,
Step Out,

and It Is Full of
Living Things

Read “Rubbing” ↓Add to your shelf ↗Kyobo Book Centre · in Korean

and It Is Full of
Living Things

Read “Rubbing” ↓Add to your shelf ↗Kyobo Book Centre · in Korean

Cover of the poetry collection “Open the Door, Step Out, and It Is Full of Living Things”

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Object
Poetry collection, Open the Door, Step Out, and It Is Full of Living Things 『문을 열고 나오면 살아 있는 것들로 가득 차 있다』
Author
Dongwon Nam
Details
110 pages · 128 × 188 mm · November 1, 2026 · Kyobo PubPle
Medium
612 syllables · 7,578 in all — See the palette ↓
Collection
Your bookshelf

Poetry

Rubbing

문을 열고 나오면 살아 있는 것들로 가득 차 있다Open the door, step out, and it is full of living things숨 쉬는 것들breathing things

움직이는 것들과 다르다Different from things that move죽어 있는 것도 움직일 수 있다Even dead things can move

건조하겠지It must be dry지나치게 건조하겠지It must be far too dry

건물의 벽을 만져 본다I touch the wall of a building버석하게 무언가 떨어진다Something crumbles off, brittle물기 하나 없이 검은 인주를 찍은 듯하다like a stamp of black seal ink, without a drop of moisture

오래됐네It’s old

바람에 밀려가는 쓰레기나Trash pushed along by the wind, or일정한 속도로 굴러가는 바퀴들wheels rolling at a steady speed

살아 있는 척할까Should I pretend to be alive죽어 있는 척할까Should I pretend to be dead

손에 묻은 인주를 털어낸다I brush the ink off my hand

바람이 분다The wind blows이제 걸음을 옮긴다Now I walk on

Open the Door, Step Out, and It Is Full of Living Things, pages 61–62
Translated from the Korean

The other fifty-nine poems are on paper.

Forthcoming

Open the Door, Step Out,
and It Is Full of Living Things110 pages · 128 × 188 mm · November 1, 2026 · Kyobo PubPleText, cover and typesetting by Dongwon Nam

Buy at Kyobo Book Centre ↗

Printed on demand in Korea. Kyobo ships internationally; its site is in Korean.

Author
Text, cover and typesetting by Dongwon Nam
Details
110 pages · 128 × 188 mm · November 1, 2026 · Kyobo PubPle
Medium
612 syllables · 7,578 in all — See the palette ↓

Between pretending to be alive and pretending to be dead,
poems that brush the ink off the hand and walk on

Dongwon Nam’s poems sort what breathes from what merely moves. Among building walls where something brittle crumbles off at a touch, trash pushed along by the wind and wheels rolling at a steady speed, the poet asks whether to pretend to be alive or to pretend to be dead — and, instead of answering, brushes the ink off his hand. Firm sentences that set down what he has seen, without putting feeling first, are the foundation of this collection.

Contents — sixty poems in four parts

Titles in ink can be read here · each month, a line or two opens from one poem

Part I · 15 poemsWhite Sleep · Field of Vision · A Weight That Does Not Sink …
  1. White Sleep 흰 잠11
  2. Field of Vision 시야13
  3. A Weight That Does Not Sink 가라앉지 않는 무게14
  4. Do You Have Any Pain? 통증이 있습니까16
  5. Glass 유리17
  6. Vanishing Point 소실점18
  7. Sonar 소나19
  8. Recorded Message 안내21
  9. Moonlight, Starlight 달빛 별빛22
  10. A Small Sound I Hoped You’d Hear 들렸으면 했던 작은 소리24
  11. Thistle 엉겅퀴25
  12. The Pulse of Life 생의 박동26
  13. Blue Light 파란빛28
  14. Viewing 관람30
  15. Threshold 문지방32
Part II · 15 poemsA Day Left in Empty Arms · Slope · Gaps …
  1. A Day Left in Empty Arms 빈 팔에 남은 하루37
  2. Slope 경사38
  3. Gaps 틈새39
  4. Clock 시계40
  5. Game 놀이41
  6. Angle 각도42
  7. Meter Reading 검침44
  8. Switching On 점등45
  9. Scraps 조각46
  10. Fish Tank 수조47
  11. Between the Teeth 이빨 사이49
  12. Just Because 그냥50
  13. Handwriting 필적52
  14. An Everyday Evening 일상의 저녁54
  15. Long Ago 오래전56
Part III · 15 poemsRubbing · Reprieve · Full Bloom …
  1. Rubbing 탁본 — read it here61
  2. Reprieve 유예63
  3. Full Bloom 만개64
  4. Late 지각66
  5. In Numerical Order 번호순68
  6. Outside, Inside 겉, 속69
  7. Van Gogh 고흐70
  8. Face to Face 직면72
  9. Against the Current 역류73
  10. Brackish Water 기수74
  11. Portuguese Man o’ War 고깔해파리75
  12. Peach 복숭아77
  13. Underline 밑줄78
  14. Four in the Afternoon 오후 네 시79
  15. One Way 편도80
Part IV · 15 poemsType · School · On the Last Morning …
  1. Type 활자83
  2. School 학교84
  3. On the Last Morning 마지막 아침에85
  4. Blank Page 여백지87
  5. Memory 기억89
  6. Mixing Colors 혼색90
  7. Grammar 문법91
  8. Palm 손바닥93
  9. On the Road 길에서95
  10. Deep Snow 눈 폭폭97
  11. Calyx 꽃받침98
  12. Nail 못100
  13. From Behind 뒷모습102
  14. What Is Light 가벼운 것은103
  15. By Chance 우연히105
  1. Poet’s Note 시인의 말107
  2. To Those Who Read 읽어 주신 분들께108

Palette

612 syllables

This book is made of 7,578 Korean syllables, 612 of them different. A palette of letters rather than colors — each set down once, the most used first.

The darker, the more often used — 다 (356), 이 (267), 는 (261) … 162 used only once