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”. 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, 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.

Aesthetics of wind

A man tends to a garden,

And what makes it grow is the wind that blows from Mother Nature.

 

The wind remains fragrant as it wraps around the juniper’s round waist.

It carries the scent of pine through every pot and pine needle.

 

With unpretentious gestures,

The scent of flowers crosses the wall.

When they bloom and fill the air through the cracks,

The wind carries the smiles of the flowers.

 

In the warm sunlight, the sound of laughter resonates.

Even the gentle touch of raindrops can be felt.

The wind, never ceasing for countless days,

Finds a path without a road and carries it along.

***

바람의 미학

사람이 정원을 가꾸되

자라게 하는 것은

대자연에서 불어오는 바람이어라

 

향나무 둥근 허리마다

바람은 향기롭게 머물고

항아리 소나무 솔잎마다

바람이 물어 나른 솔향 맺혔어라

 

모나지 않은 몸짓으로

담을 넘어오는 꽃향기

허공의 틈으로 피어오를 때

바람은 꽃들의 미소를 나른다

 

따사로운 햇살의 웃음소리

빗줄기의 부드러운 손길도

수많은 날 잠들지 않는 바람은

길 없는 길을 찾아 실어 나른다.

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