Chiha Kim

Chiha Kim

Chiha Kim’s real name is Yongil. Chiha is his pen name. He graduated from the department of Art at Seoul University in 1966. As a voice of the people and bard of the oppressed, Chiha not only holds a significant position in the sphere of literature, but in contemporary Korean modern history as well. He made his voice heard despite the government's efforts to silence him by imprisoning him in the 1970s and 1980s. He has championed the cause of a people oppressed under dictatorial regimes during the latter half of 20th century, relying on his poetic prowess as a weapon for his battles.


 
"The Ocher Road"

I follow you, father.
Your translucent trail of blood
On the ocher road.
You are dead
And now the sun burns black.
I follow you into the summer heat of guns and swords
With handcuffs on both wrists
Where the searing sun
Burns away sweat, tears, and fields of rye.

I follow you, father
To Puzu Cape where gray fish leap,
Where you died wrapped in a burlap sack.
I follow after you, father.

When Opo Mountain brightens at night with fire,
When sun shines on the yellow road
Making the tender orange leaves of the trifoliate hedge as sharp
And stiff as the fully-grown leaves,
Shall I shout
Or sing a song?

Every ten years blood bubbles up in the wells.
Of Hwadang village, where bamboo fences decay?
Born in an impoverished colony,
Father, you too have fallen down under guns and swords.
How could the water drops welling in the bamboo shoots
Not know that crystal-clear May is coming?

In the long, hot summer
Or cruel tyranny, in which small cockles
Were starved to death and heaven hid its face
All the days and hope
Of my country
Were forced in the end onto the dusty yellow road

Across the slime in which old
Boats lie broken by age and sun,
The blue sky hangs high
Over white-furrowed fields of rye.
Despite ten long years,
The shouting that shook the sky that day
Revives in my breath
And in my body, steel wires tense.

Sensing your voice
I follow you with tears, father,
To where you died,
To Puzu Cape where gray fish leap,
Where you died wrapped in a burlap sack.

 

Questions for Reflection: “The Ocher Road”

  1. What has happened to the poet’s father?
  2. Explain the poet’s emotion as he speaks of his father? React to the line “I follow you into the summer heat of guns and swords, with handcuffs on both wrists, where the searing sun burns away sweat, tears, and fields of rye.”
  3. What is being suggested when the poet states that “Every ten years blood bubbles up in the wells?”
  4. What role does memory play in the poet’s mind?
  5. How would you interpret the line “All the days and hope of my country were forced in the end onto the dusty yellow road?’’ What is the significance of the road in this poem?
  6. What is the hope in this poem?
  7. What are the lessons learned through the eyes of the poet?