The sea, where the waves rustled and crumpled, I saw a faint light. Dawn was breaking brightly in the distance.
Lee, Hee Kuk, a poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares his two poems
Lee, Hee Kuk is a Korean poet. Born in Seoul city of South Korea, he is Pharmacist and Adjunct Professor of College of Pharmacy, The Catholic University of Korea. He is a member of Executive of PEN Korean Center of PEN International. He published 5 poetry books. He won 4 Literature awards.
Dawn Sea
Looking at the night sea from a cruise ship,
A long-ago emotion sparkles on the black waves.
The father of someone, whose hand was amputated in a factory,
Someone’s mother, lying paralyzed.
A civil servant, who wrote his apology and explanation in writing while helping people beyond desk-bound duties,
The wind carried the story of two men and three women, barefoot in the middle of winter.
Carrying layers of scratches from all kinds of storms,
Floating, torn by the rolling waves,
A small boat.
I asked someone’s 16-year-old eldest son to buy him a life jacket.
“What is the most difficult?”
“There’s nothing difficult,”
His father was injured at work, and his mother collapsed while working day and night.
He said, “I’m so glad it’s my turn to work!”
The whip of the wind struck the back of my clumsy sympathy.
On a shabby boat, with no coordinates, on a pitch-black sea,
A boy rowing vigorously, with sparkling eyes.
The sea, where the waves rustled and crumpled,
I saw a faint light.
Dawn was breaking brightly in the distance.
***
새벽 바다
이희국
유람선에서 내려다보는 밤바다
검은 물결 위에 오래전 감동이 반짝인다
공장에서 손이 절단된 아버지
반신마비 되어 누운 어머니
탁상행정을 넘어 가족을 돕다가 시말서 쓴 공무원
한겨울 맨발의 2남3여 이야기를 바람이 전해주었다
온갖 풍랑에 겹겹이 난 생채기를 안고
출렁이는 파도에 찢긴 채 떠다니는
작은 배 한 척
구명동의라도 사 입히고자 열여섯 살 장남에게 물었다
제일 힘든 게 뭐니?
힘든 것 하나도 없어요
아버지 일하다 다쳤고 어머니 밤낮으로 일하다 쓰러졌는데
제가 일할 차례가 되어 너무 기뻐요!
어설픈 동정의 뒤통수를 바람의 회초리가 철썩 쳤다
칠흑 같은 바다 좌표 없는 남루한 배 위에서
반짝이는 눈으로 힘차게 노를 젓고 있던 소년
파도가 부스럭거리며 구겨지던 바다
저 멀리서
환하게 동이 트고 있었다.
***
When Confronted with a Fork in the Road
As hatred and resentment grow longer,
The mire deepens further.
Darkness swallows both body and mind,
And I see myself plummeting into the abyss.
The direction led by emptiness and forgiveness is
A path towards the light.
Though it’s painful and long,
The stairs of peace become brighter as one goes.
Inside me, hesitating at every turn despite knowing,
Live two hearts, good and evil.
To some, unnecessarily kind,
To others,
Excessively harsh.
The contradictions of those days, too late to regret.
Even if darkness might win at times,
I cannot surrender my soul and body
To the darkness.
Rather than the pitch-black night, I head towards the bright sun.
***
두 갈래 길을 만날 때
이희국
미움과 원망의 시간이 길어질수록
갈수록 깊어지는 수렁
어둠이 몸과 마음을 삼켜버리고
나락에 빠진 나를 본다
비움과 용서가 인도하는 방향은
빛을 향한 길
아프고 멀더라도 가다보면
갈수록 환해지던 평안의 계단
알면서도 때마다 멈칫 주저하는 내 안에
두 개의 마음, 선과 악이 살고 있다
누군가에겐 필요 이상 친절하고
누군가에겐
지나치게 박절했던 때가 있다
후회해도 늦은 그날의 모순들
때로 어둠이 이길지라도
그로 인해 내 몸을
어둠에게 내어줄 수는 없다
캄캄한 밤 보다는, 환한 해를 향한다.
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Read: Meaning of shade – Poems from Korea
