{"id":15532,"date":"2025-03-26T07:42:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?post_type=product&p=15532"},"modified":"2025-09-27T09:01:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T14:01:53","slug":"like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Like a Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jang Okgwan<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n

Translated by Susan K<\/a><\/h2>\n

Edited by Jake Levine<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Like a Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower<\/h3>\n

ISBN: 978-1-956921-52-6 <\/span>(pbk.)<\/p>\n

(April 2025)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower<\/i> by Jang Okgwan is a collection of poems selected by the poet from his almost 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging brilliantly capture the conflict between the unflinching power of the human mind against the unavoidable failing of the human body. Supernatural scenes of the Korean countryside are laced with interludes from philosophers and poets, cigarette butts are spit up from urinals, and happiness is receiving a fill-up of air for free for a bicycle tire in a tire shop. From the unique creaking of the famously crooked pine trees of Gyeongju, to the universal struggle of dealing with human mortality, these poems find the monumental in the mundane, the spectacular in the simple. After reading these poems, one can\u2019t help seeing the world with changed eyes, finding the world forever altered by this new perspective.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Praise for Like a Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower<\/i><\/span><\/h4>\n

In his poems that always run bending, never in a hurry, things like the shell pattern of an old mother-of-pearl wardrobe and a feather that fell in a silent well float around. I can also hear the husky dialect from a market I happen to come across and the clamor of fish in heat on a pink spring night. The patterns and sounds can be transient and pitiful like a white diaper hanging from a clothesline or a wave of hand that sinks as it flutters from afar, but they remain as memories of a forgotten country, unfamiliar, sorrowful words. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Lee Seongbok, poet<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breaking the clich\u00e9 of perception and finding the essence of an object, moving toward enlightenment, is the typical structure of Jang\u2019s poems. The poet always reminds us that the secret meaning to existence doesn\u2019t lie in a far-away closed room in nature or space, but under our feet, before our eyes, right next to us…. Jang\u2019s poems are where meditation meets excitement, grows newborn silver moon grass.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Kim Yangheon, literary critic<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By capturing the fine scenery of daily life and reconstructing the seen and unseen in a new perspective, Jang\u2019s poems break away from the clich\u00e9s of perception and show serious introspection for the object. Poems like \u201cStingrays Fly\u201d and \u201cThe Moon, the Snake, and the Short Story\u201d create a correspondence and fusion of reality and fantasy with active imagination and the Buddhist world at their base.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Lee Haseok, poet, from the 3rd Iryeon Literary Award judge\u2019s comments<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In short, Jang\u2019s world of poetry is built out of a firm lyricism that has its basis in dense depiction. His poems are full of joy at the discovery of poetry blooming in nature and life. They\u2019re highly effective for weaving those moments of discovery with dense images. The beauty of completion in each of his poems, which weave tastefully the outcome of language, is fully exuded when savored over a long period of time. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Lee Gyeongsu, literary critic<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jang Okgwan<\/span><\/a>
\n9781956921526
\n“Breaking the clich\u00e9 of perception and finding the essence of an object…” <\/span>\u2014Kim Yangheon<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[17],"product_tag":[490,488,491,492,18,383,489],"class_list":{"0":"post-15532","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-dialogos","7":"product_tag-jake-levine","8":"product_tag-jang-okgwan","9":"product_tag-korea","10":"product_tag-korean","11":"product_tag-poetry","12":"product_tag-poetry-translation","13":"product_tag-susan-k","15":"first","16":"instock","17":"taxable","18":"shipping-taxable","19":"purchasable","20":"product-type-simple","21":"berocket_lgv_grid","22":"berocket_lgv_list_grid"},"yoast_head":"\nLike A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-27T14:01:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lavender_ink_pr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/\",\"name\":\"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-26T12:42:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-27T14:01:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Shop\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Like a Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\",\"name\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"description\":\"Publisher of Contemporary Poetry and Literary Prose\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":183,\"caption\":\"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/lavender_ink_pr\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","description":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","og_description":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/","og_site_name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/","article_modified_time":"2025-09-27T14:01:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@lavender_ink_pr","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/","name":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan at Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-26T12:42:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-27T14:01:53+00:00","description":"Like A Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower by Jang Okgwan, selected by the poet from his 40-year, award winning career. With the lightness and wit of a comedian, Jang\u2019s meditations on aging capture the resiliency of mind against the unavoidable failing of the body.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/okgwan-cover-100dpi.jpg","width":480,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/like-a-fruit-tearing-its-way\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Shop","item":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/shop\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Like a Fruit Tearing Its Way Out of a Flower"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/","name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","description":"Publisher of Contemporary Poetry and Literary Prose","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#organization","name":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cityscape-800.jpg","width":800,"height":183,"caption":"Lavender Ink \/ Di\u00e1logos"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lavenderinkdialogos\/","https:\/\/x.com\/lavender_ink_pr"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15880,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/15532\/revisions\/15880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=15532"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=15532"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavenderink.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=15532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}