Love has already begun to rise in the air,

Living barefoot, brushing little by little against the earth’s edge.

Ms. Kim Rhee young is a poet from Seoul, South Korea

Poet Ms. Kim Rhee-young was born in Seoul. She graduated from the Department of Dance at Seoul Institute of the Arts and the Department of Dance at Sejong University, and in 1981 she performed at the Korea Dance Festival. In 1991, she made her literary debut when her poem Sorrow of a Dead Dog and five other works were awarded in Hyundae Munhak(Modern Literature). From 1999, she studied art, drawing, and right-brain training at Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, USA. In 2013, she wrote the dance scripts The Woman in the Dunes and Blow Up, and performed in the ARKO Next Generation Choreographers’ Showcase and the Hong Kong International Theatre Festival. In 2014, she presented her video poetry collection as an app book at the Book Expo America in New York City. Later, she became a social worker and worked for local governments in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Her poetry collections include He Who Exploded in the Year 1054 (Hyundae Si, 1993), The Wind Goes Alone (Donghaksa, 1999), A Handful of Blue Beans (Munhak Academy, 2006), and Letters Written in Dance (Bookin, 2016), which was selected for the 2016 Sejong Book Literature Sharing program. She has received the 4th Baum Literary Award and the 3rd Space Poetry Recitation Literary Award.

 To Marc*

You dream of an old couple sitting side by side,

But I dream of a bride and groom just wed.

Like a bride unfolding a green fan wide,

I wait for your hand to rest upon my belly.

If the low sound of a cello drifts in,

There is no need for fragile wings.

When I think of you, the sunlight is always thick,

And even the pain dangling upside down beneath a tree,

I can ignore as I step onto the train.

Love has already begun to rise in the air,

Living barefoot, brushing little by little against the earth’s edge.

*Marc Chagall (1887–1985): Russian-born French painter

***

*마르크(Marc)에게

당신은 나란히 앉은 노부부를 꿈꾸지만

나는 막 결혼식을 마친 신랑 신부를 꿈꾸어요.

초록색 부채를 활짝 펴든 신부처럼

아랫배에 손을 얹어주길 기다려요.

낮은 첼로 소리가 들려온다면

얄팍한 날개는 없어도 무방해요.

당신을 생각하면 늘 햇빛은 두툼하고

나무 아래 거꾸로 매달린 통증쯤

모른 척 기차에 오를 수 있어요.

사랑은 이미 허공에 떠오르기 시작하고

맨발로 조금씩 땅끝을 스치며 살아가요.

*마르크 샤갈(Marc Chagall):1987~1985 러시아 출신, 프랑스의 화가

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Read: On the Road – Poetry from Korea