Yang Geum-Hee
Born in 1967 in Jeju, Korea, Yang Geum-Hee has published two collections of poetry books – ‘Happiness Account’ and ‘Ieodo, Island of Legend and Existence’, as well as one collection of essays titled ‘Happy Companion’. She was the first president of the Ieodo Literature Association, the editor-in-chief of the Jejuin News, and worked as a research fellow at the Society of Ieodo Research. She served as a researcher at the Jeju Sea Grand Center at Jeju National University and a specially appointed professor at Jeju International University. Currently, she is editorial writer for the New Jeju Ilbo, a special researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of Jeju National University, vice-president of the Jeju Regional Committee of the Korean PEN Center, Executive of the Jeju Institute for Korean Unification, and Executive of the Korean Association of Ethics. She has won four literary awards.
A day in the spring rain
In the April spring day,
Rain falls like a loved one coming.
Pansy flowers bought at the flower market last winter
Planted in a flower bed,
Getting soaked in the unfamiliar sky.
I crouch down and sit,
Without an umbrella, next to the flowers.
I try to become a flower, getting wet in the spring rain.
Suddenly, the thought occurs to me
That this moment, getting wet in the rain with the flowers,
Could be the last.
I feel like I can endure getting wet in the rain
Without using an umbrella.
Why do we become more forgiving
In the face of the word ‘last’
As raindrops bounce off yellow petals,
The flower petals shake themselves
Like a sparrow taking a bath in a puddle.
A flower-shaped sun rises above the green world
Those flowers truly know that
Nothing is eternal in this world.
In every moment, without pause,
They express beauty and fragrance.
***
봄비를 맞는 날
양금희
4월의 봄날,
님 오시듯 비가 내린다
지난겨울 꽃시장에서 사다
화단에 심은 팬지꽃
낯선 하늘에서 비를 맞는다
자세를 낮춰 쪼그리고
우산 없이 꽃들 곁에 앉아본다
봄비에 젖는 꽃이 되어본다
문득, 꽃과 함께 비에 젖는
지금, 이 순간이
마지막일지도 모른다는 생각에
우산을 쓰지 않고
비 맞을 만하다는 생각이 든다
마지막이란 말 앞에서는
왜 너그러워지는 걸까
노란 꽃잎 위로 빗방울 튕기자
참새가 물웅덩이에서 목욕하듯
몸을 흔들어대는 꽃잎들
초록 세상 위에 꽃태양이 떴다
이 세상에 영원한 건 없다는 걸
온몸으로 아는 것 같다
한순간도 쉼 없이
아름다움과 향기를 표현하고 있다.
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