Poetry Place Collected Poems

jeju trip reflections

First trip to Jeju island

I have lived in Korea
Off and on since 1979
And have retired there
Semi-permanently

Been everywhere in Korea
Except for Jeju island

I went on my first trip
To Jeju Island
Went on a group tour
Only American in the group

Saw all the main sites
Ate a lot of seafood
Tried the famed jeju black pork

Delicious fresh fish
from local waters
And drank local Jeju soju

Did two short walks
Along the famed ole gil paths
Saw two shows

Hiked in the pine forest
Smelling the fresh pine trees
Along a snowy path

Saw the coastal road
Saw fishermen fishing
Went on a submarine tour

Saw the fish swimming
Along side the submarine
Brilliant colors

In the dark water
Yellow light from the surface
Turning everything yellow

Saw the famous jeju horses
Running around
Did not take a ride though

Worth the trip
Next time we will spend
A bit more time
Exploring Jeju


Most of us learn about the world around us via the five channels of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Therefore, writing which projects mental impressions through those sensory conduits is more likely to form an emotional connection with the reader.

Specific details and their relevance to the topic help readers bond with an experience being shared by a poet. Similes and metaphors bolster that effort by comparing the object or concept being discussed to something with which the audience is familiar. By describing abstract ideas in terms of concrete sensory particulars, the poet creates a lifelike experience in the reader's mind.

Your assignment: Write a poem about some recent event using specific, but fictional, details of texture, color, scent, shape, and flavor to make your narrative come to life, as Robert Frost did in his poem After Apple-Picking: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173523