Dream Journey to Peach Blossom Land – A Poem from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm
Kim Nan-kwon, an eminent Korean Poet and Children’s Literature Writer from Republic of Korea, shares his poem
Kim Nan-kwon
Kim Nan-kwon, the Korean Poet is the current president of the Simunhak Association and has been recognized as a poet, a children’s literature writer, and the vice-president of the Gangwon Children’s Literature Association. He is also the representative of the Cultural Arts Creation Academy and the publisher of the Poetry and Symptom. Additionally, he has published several poetry collections such as “Silent Evening” and “Teacher’s Revenge,” as well as works on poetry recitation theory and healing through poetry recitation.
Mongyudohwado
Dream Journey to Peach Blossom Land
In a traditional Korean house over two hundred years old,
A girl of about ten sits with her hair tied back on the porch.
A breeze blows through the forest,
And the sound of a river flows across the fields and into her ears.
Birds perch on a persimmon tree and look at the girl.
She sits alone in the empty house, picking the wind, the sun,
And the sounds she likes, and laughs at the patterns in the sky.
Ah, stars can appear even in broad daylight,
And flowers can become stars too.
For over two hundred years, a single flower has lived in this empty house,
Breathing steadily,
And yet I feel like I’m suffocating.
***
몽유도화도夢游桃花圖
김남권
이백 년도 더 지나 보이는
한옥 툇마루에 열 살 남짓 되는 여자 아이가
쪽진 머리를 하고 앉아 있다
대숲에선 푸른 바람이 불어오고
들판을 가로질러 흘러가는 강물 소리를 물고 온,
새들이 감나무 가지에 앉아 아이를 쳐다본다
아무도 없는 텅 빈 집에 홀로 앉아
바람을 고르고
햇볕을 고르고
소리를 고르던 여자 아이가
하늘의 무늬를 물고 방그레 웃는다
아하 대낮에도 별이 뜰 수 있구나
꽃을 물고 별이 될 수도 있구나
이백 년이 지나도록
한결같은 숨을 쉬며 빈 집에 깃들어 사는
꽃 한 송이 때문에
나는 왜 숨이 막히는 걸까
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