March 21 is World Poetry Day. It is an international celebration of the diversity present in languages and multicultural understanding which UNESCO spearheads since 1999. For this reason, I’m sharing a video clip of Namjoon reading aloud his poem, “Giyeok”, (which became Giyeok Memories as Jimin called it, towards the end of the show) in Episode 56 of Run BTS (circa 2018).
In Giyeok, Namjoon lists objects and memories he has of each member when they were first starting out in the Kpop industry. He did it with the intent to evoke not just nostalgia but to move his members in remembering who they were and where they stand in the here and now. The former being explicitly conveyed and the later expressed as an implication. The members knew and felt the unspoken message. They listened and “read between the lines” as Namjoon lovingly recalled V’s half buzz cut and Jimin’s chubby body to Jin’s pre-Dad Jokes era; the clothes JK, Hobi and Yoongi wore and words that defined their triumphs, losses and hard work for the past five years.
It seemed that each line, object and memory holds a special meaning for a member and for the team only they know. Such is the effect of a list poem as literary device and tool. And Namjoon, who seemed to have adapted this technique from the dead poets, Homer, Walt Whitman, Cristina Rossetti and Shel Silverstein, was in his element. He is the philosopher who raps. In that moment, he seized the day and became the leader who is gentle and steadfast.
Such is the transformative power of poetry.
The second video clip has the members explaining their purpose for writing the poem they shared at the campfire. How natural they all were and deliberate in communicating their ideas and intentions. 2018 for Bangtan was indeed a turning of the tide. Something has changed and BTS was taking courage to face it. Well, we know what happened next. And here we are, waiting and anticipating beautiful moments, yet to come.
Link to the full video: https://youtu.be/m0r9Sa8deiQ?si=WKgsdSkBlX0XxylF
No comments:
Post a Comment