Futurism IV

The future will be here shortly. Enjoy these while you wait. Free toy inside!

Although I occasionally get annoyed with them as they run shoeless and unsupervised in the gym, although they sneeze in your face, although their attention span expires before you can finish reading this sentence, I think it’s best if we all try to remember that children, all the world’s children, are our future. Some of them have already started to pave the way to the future as futurist poets. Welcome to the fourth installment of my collection of Korean Futurist Poetry. For those of you who missed this the first time and had better things to do in college, futurism in a nutshell was an art movement that came about around the same time as the avant-garde movement in the early 20th century. What’s important to know for the purposes of this column is that futurists feel that art (and in particular poetry) is in its true form when not constrained by things like meter, or rhyme, or even sense. I find these things to be rampant in my student’s writing. I now submit the four newest entries for you enjoyment:

This is almost a futurist haiku! It’s not very long, but quite a gem:

“Confucius”

Today I studied English with my farth.

I was very Confucius.

There are a few things wrong with this picture. First of all, she’s 10 years old, I’m guessing, so why does she have a boyfriend? Secondly, I don’t know if the noraebang is her home or what:

“Noraebang Letters”

Today went to the Noraebang. with my

boyfriend and friend. Noraebong is the

neighborhood my home.

Noraebong is a letter from one time

addition. We sing. It was very fun ~!>_<

I want to come again next time.

What startles me about this one is how good the second half is when compared to the first. The first half is something out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Or maybe it’s just futuristic…either way, I’m curious to know what an “easting house” is.

“Playground”

Today went to the playground with my

friend. Playground a letter from taken a

swing. taken a slide and taken a seesaw.

We very jolly. and we went to an easting

house. we ate a broiled dish of sliced rice

cake. After eating between means we go

back home.

This was written by one of my favorite students, Samatha. Boy, is she a pistol. She’s the only girl in this class, but she definitely holds her own. I think she was venting when she wrote this entry. It’s not necessarily futurist (although I don’t know how one banters a face), but it is a great narrative:

“The Kind of Argument You Have When You’re 13 and a Boy Likes You but Has No Idea How to Express that to You”

I’m late the church. I walk to church.

My friend sing a song.

I’m fought friend. My friend said “You agley!!”

I’m angry.

The friend lose. I’m win! Because friend banter

my face. The friend don’t friend. I don’t like friend.

He is fool!

I don’t like him.

Alas, my kids are getting better, so the futurists are dying out. No need to worry though! I have a new batch of confused youths coming soon! I’ll have some more adventures in the meantime to keep you entertained ^^

Tagged as: children, fun, good, korea, potluck, students, teaching