Middle Age
January 22nd, 2014 by Staff
Live Like Limpid Water Costa Rica 2012
by Chunhak Kwon
Translated by Hana Kim
Only by hearing a name
I wish to have a beautiful sickness
Somewhere
in a weedy field
raising a fall insect
at the end of its antennae
the dawn comes
I shall die painfully
formed as glittering dewdrops
and pierced by the sunlight
which demolishes the heart of a flower
Only by hearing a name
I wish to be a fragrant wildflower
With shivering wind
I shall live like limpid water
remain as colors without jealousy
forgetting even a memory of being a petal
I shall ascend into the heavens
and be a star each night
중년
권천학
이름만 들어도
아름다운
병이 들고 싶어.
풀섶
어디메쯤
가을 벌레 한 마리 기르면서
더듬이 끝으로 오는
새벽.
찬란한
이슬로 맺혀
꽃의 심장을 무너뜨리는
햇볕에 찔려
아프게 죽으리니
이름만 들어도
향기로운
들꽃이고 싶어.
떨려 오는 바람결에
말갛게 살다가
시샘 없는 빛깔로 남아
꽃잎이던 기억마저 버리고
밤마다 승천하여 별이 되리니
Raised in South Korea, poet, essayist and writer Chunhak Kwon (Cheonhak Kwon) studied at the Graduate School of Korea University. Now she resides in Toronto. She made her literary debut in the monthly Hyundai Munhak. Also, she was a columnist for Seoul Newspaper and Kwanak Munhwa Newspaper. Chunhak has published over 10 books, including “Dictionary of Korean Proverb and Quotation”, “The Sky in Bronze Mirror” (poems about the ancient Korean Kingdom of Baekje), “I am Still in an Apple Seed” (poems about trees), “Gaea Being Ill in Bed” (poems about the environment), “Loneliness Virus”, and “The Sorrow of Grass-green Vitamin, Or” (poems about seas/oceans). She has also been the recipient of many awards including the Modern Buddhism Literary Award (first prize), the Si wa Ŭisik Literature Award and the Kyung Hee University Overseas Korean Literary Award (Grand Prize). She served as Editor-in-chief of Blue Note, a web magazine of the Korean Literature Library. The translation of her poems was published in a book entitled, “2H2 + O2 = 2H2O” which was the winner of the First Annual Min Chapbook Competition organized by Harvard University’s Korea Institute and Tamal Vista Publications. Her poems and essays are regularly featured in Toronto Korean-language newspapers.