Yang Geum-Hee

Poetess Yang Geum-Hee was born in 1967 in Jeju, Korea. She 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”. Additionally, she published the academic book ‘Inheritance of Ieodo Culture’. 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 an editorial writer for the New Jeju Ilbo, a special researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of Jeju National University, a vice-president of the Jeju Regional Committee of the Korean PEN Center, an Executive of the Jeju Institute for Korean Unification, and an Executive of the Korean Association of Ethics. She has won four literary awards.

Address of Happiness

The road begins at the end of language

At the end of the road is the word’s address

 

If you follow the words of love

There is a words house full of warmth

In the place where happy people stayed for a long time

There is a caring word’s house

 

Recognizing the word’s address is simple

Follow the path of the heart

Anyone can find it even without a milestone

Just follow the temperature

 

People who used to be happy

Thinking beyond greed

Sometimes they used to lose the address of happiness

 

So as not to lose the way

Keep the light in your heart

 

Even if you somehow lose that address

If you want to find that way again

Just follow the language of happy people

 

Soft wind,

Do not let go of the warmth;

Embrace the bright smile that greets you at the end of the road.

***  

행복의 주소

언어의 끝에서 길이 시작된다

그 길의 끝에는 말의 주소가 있다

 

사랑의 말을 따라가면

온기 가득한 말의 집이 있고

행복한 사람들이 오래 머물던 자리에는

배려 가득한 말의 집이 있다

 

말의 주소를 알아차리는 방법은 간단하다

마음의 길을 따라

이정표가 없어도 누구나 찾을 수 있는

온도를 따라가면 된다

 

예전에 행복했던 사람들도

욕심 너머를 생각하다가

가끔씩 행복의 주소를 잃어버리곤 했다

 

그 길 잃지 않도록

마음의 등불을 지켜야 한다

 

어쩌다 주소를 잃어버린다 하더라도

그 길을 다시 찾고 싶다면

행복한 사람들의 언어를 따라가면 된다

 

부드러운 바람과

따뜻한 온기를 놓지 말아야 한다

그 길의 끝에 마중 나와 있는

맑은 웃음과 만나야 한다

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