Building a mud-wall house filled with heart prints. Without blueprints, I’m constructing it.

Lee, Hee Kuk, eminent poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares his two poems

 Lee, Hee Kuk is a poet, born in Seoul, South Korea. He is a pharmacist and Adjunct Professor at the College of Pharmacy, The Catholic University of Korea. He is member of the Executive Board of PEN Korean Center of PEN International. He is the president of the Ieodo Literature Association and a Vice president of the Korean Association of World Literature. He has published five poetry books and has won four literature awards.

Building a Mud House

Building a mud-wall house filled with heart prints

Without blueprints, I’m constructing it

One small room where stars can be seen

And a round living room to stay up all night with friends

A few pyeong of vegetable garden to greet the dawn

In the garden, flowers of all seasons will bloom

Welcoming guests

Cherry and grape trees, tomatoes

Ripening to the sound of chirping birds

In the liquor jar

Bubbling liquor is maturing

Watching the feast of the stars spread out

Along with the liquor glasses, we too will mature.

***

흙집을 지으며

마음지문 가득한 흙벽 집을

설계도 없이 짓고 있다

별이 보이는 작은 방 하나와

친구들과 밤새울 둥근 응접실도 두어야겠다

새벽을 가꿀 텃밭 몇 평도

텃밭에는 사계절의 꽃이 피어

손님을 반길 것이다

앵두와 포도나무 토마토

짹짹대는 새소리에 여물어가고

술 단지에는

뽀글뽀글 술이 익어가고

가득 펼쳐진 별들의 잔치를 보며

술잔과 함께 우리들도 익어갈 것이다.

***

Shedding the Garments of a Thousand Years

The sound reaching toward the sky

Hammer strikes, the tail of chisel, and the chisel strikes the stone.

The sharp eyes of the stonemason

It leads to a chisel born from fire.

Occasionally, sharp chisel, it spits out flames

Finding the veins of time

The stonemason who finds the heart and opens the hidden breath

Cooling the heat in falling drops of sweat

Piece by piece

Peeling off the time chains, firmly filled

One morning

The Bodhisattva returned after a thousand years

Awakening from the sleep of oblivion

Brightly smiling.

***

천년의 옷을 벗다

하늘을 향한 소리

망치는 정의 꼬리를 치고 정은 돌을 친다

석공의 매서운 눈은

불길을 먹고 태어난 정으로 이어지고

날카로운 정은

이따금씩 불길을 게워낸다

시간의 혈관을 찾고

심장을 찾아 숨길을 여는 저 석공

떨어지는 땀방울에 열기를 식히며

듬성듬성

단단하게 채워진 시간의 족쇄를

벗겨낸다

어느 날 아침

천년을 돌아 나온 동자승이

무념의 잠에서 깨어나

환하게 웃고 있다.

________________________

Read: The Wind Blowing From Ieodo – A Bouquet of Poems from Jeju Island of Korea