Emily Jungmin Yoon

A piercing debut collection of poems exploring gender, race, and violence from a sensational new talent In her arresting collection, urgently relevant for our times, poet Emily Jungmin Yoon confronts the histories of sexual violence against women, focusing in particular on Korean so-called “comfort women,” women who were forced into sexual labor in Japanese-occupied territories during World War II. In wrenching language, A Cruelty Special to Our Species unforgettably describes the brutalities of war and the fear and sorrow of those whose lives and bodies were swept up by a colonizing power, bringing powerful voice to an oppressed group of people whose histories have often been erased and overlooked. “What is a body in a stolen country,” Yoon asks. “What is right in war.” Moving readers through time, space, and different cultures, and bringing vivid life to the testimonies and confessions of the victims,Yoon takes possession of a painful and shameful history even while unearthing moments of rare beauty in acts of resistance and resilience, and in the instinct to survive and bear witness.

Poems

A Cruelty Special to Our Species

Lindsay

The trouble with trees is that their bodies and limbs are too capable, capable of burning, of living, capable of leaves, of leaving, charcoal, ash, and we think we have power.

they took us    they took us to    Shanghai    to a ruined village     my body     a ruined village          a damaged house

Perhaps she is a moirologist, which means professional mourner, but sounds more like some kind of scientist. Perhaps she is both, her research field, sorrow.

I’d like my poetry to serve to amplify and speak these women’s stories, not speak for them. I’d like my poetry to remind readers that even if a part of history may not seem to be relevant to their lives, it is—it is their reality too. An experience that is not mine is still part of the society and world that I occupy. It is crucial to know, listen, tell, and retell various stories, so we may better theorize and understand our existence.

Poetry is not just relief; poetry is tension. Poetry is departure. Poetry is return. Poetry is memory.

I wrote this book to say that one has the agency to command and preserve their own narrative.

A Cruelty Special to Our Species quotes

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