Episode #085 Romance #1 - Eunsong Kim Close Talking: A Poetry Podcast

Ringing in the new year with a poem about capitalism and climate change—"Romance #1" by Eunsong Kim. Connor and Jack discuss how the poem makes late capitalism and climate change visceral, its brilliant opening and chilling ending, crown-of-thorns starfish, and of course their own 14 year old crushes.

More about Eunsong Kim here: https://cssh.northeastern.edu/people/faculty/eunsong-kim/ & https://eun-song.org/
Check out Kim's collection here: http://www.noemipress.org/catalog/poetry/eunsong-kim/

Romance #1
By: Eunsong Kim

like some 14 year old girl waiting for her crush to glance back i

keep waiting for capitalism to end

but it won’t end

my adult life lover states

on what will end:

Libraries
Birds
Retirement
Recess
Sprinting during recess
Hispid Hares
Starfish shaped like stars
Inconvenience
Wrinkles
Sunken cheeks
Living corals
Protests
Anti-Nuclear Proliferation
Non-Aggression Pacts
Dragonflies
Mangosteen
DMZs
Trade Embargos
Leopards, all kinds
Sawfins
Rewilding
Infiltration Plot/Dreams
Oak, Trees.
Partulina Variabilis
Partulina Splendida
(-------) Violence Prevention Programs
News. News:

Might a few jellyfish survive—

counting till revelations becomes part of—