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English(English) Article

There Was a Time by Park Seongwon | LIST

About the Article

Article
http://list.or.kr/node/1072
Journal
list_Books from Korea
Issued Date
-
Page
-
Language
English(English)
Country
SOUTH KOREA
City
Seoul
Book
-
Writer
Pak seongwon

About the Author

  • Park seongwon
  • Birth : Unknown ~ Unknown
  • Occupation : Novelist
  • First Name : seongwon
  • Family Name : Pak
  • Korean Name : 박성원
  • ISNI : 0000000425444994
  • Works : 3
Descriptions - 1 Languages
  • English(English)

There Was a Time by Park Seongwon Author's Profile By Park Seongwon on Nov 16 2014 13:48:00 Vol.25 Autumn 2014 This essay was written for the Free Talks session, “Eros and Dream in My Literary Works” at the 2014 SIWF.   There was a time when folk music was all the rage. There was Neil Young, Nick Garrie, the Byrds, and Toni Vescoli. Of course, it was not my time. I was born much later than that. I just listen to their songs and think about them, that’s all. There was a time I grew a sinsemilla plant in my one-room rental. There was just one reason why. I got it after I heard that it represented the female genitalia. My friends said what I was doing was plain stupid. I even thought it was stupid. But it seemed cooler than writing the name of the girl you secretly loved on a fogged-up windowpane. You normally learn something, even from a stupid thing, when you invest 10 months of your life into it, but there was nothing I learned from this plant. I watched it for nearly 10 months, but I couldn’t figure out why it represented the female genitalia. I didn’t know if it was because of the shape of the leaves that slightly dipped down, or the barely open flower petals, or because of the subtle scent that it gave off so quietly. I wanted to ask the girl who had told me that it represented the female genitalia as she sold it to me, but it was long after she had sold the flower shop and moved away. During those 10 months, I was introduced to a few girls. (Ah, lucky me.) When they asked about my hobbies, I said: “I’m growing a sinsemilla plant. It’s supposed to represent the female genitalia. Ha ha.” “Oh, is that right?” And after that, I never heard from them again. If I think hard, the source of my imagination may be “sinsemilla.” The reason I bought the plant is obvious. It was because of the beautiful girl who had worked at the flower shop. I dropped by the shop often for no special reason. I just asked about different flowers and orchids. Because my main objective was the flower shop girl. Then one day I had asked about an unusual-looking plant and it turned out to be the sinsemilla.

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