When you stand on a subway platform, you'll see the glass doors covered with writing. You wonder if it's an ad, but when you get closer, it turns out to be a poem. An international student once asked, "Why is there a poem here?" ## When You Arrive at the Platform First, you'll see the glass doors. This door is a platform screen door, you see. It was installed to prevent accidents where people fall onto the tracks. But once the doors were in place, the large, transparent surface was left completely empty. It looked bleak. ## While Waiting for the Train So we decided to put poetry on that empty glass. What's interesting is that they picked many poems written not by poets but by ordinary citizens. Office workers, students, and grandmothers all write poems and send them in. The subway is a place where lots of people stand still and wait every day, after all. The idea was to get them to read a piece of writing in that short span of time. The doors meant for safety have also become a bulletin board for people's hearts. ## When the Train Arrives The poems are short, so you can read one or two while waiting for the train. They're also good for practicing reading Hangul. Take photos of words you don't know and look them up later with a translation app. Each poem also has its author's name written on it, so it's fun to look at them together. When the train arrives, the doors open and the poems split in two. At that point, stop reading and let the people getting off go first. Don't forget not to lean on the glass doors or push them hard. The poems sometimes change, so the next time you go to the same station, a new poem may be waiting for you.