That bus riding on the wind—
Will it take me along today?
Ms. Lee Do-yeon is an eminent poetess from Korea
Poet Ms. Lee Do-yeon graduated from Busan Women’s University. She began her literary career in 2002 as an editorial board member of Jeondong-gu Newspaper, and in October 2013 she made her official literary debut by winning the New Writer Award from the quarterly magazine Culture and Literature Time. In the same year, she also served as a member of its editorial board. Since 2015, she has been actively involved in regional literary activities as a member of the Dongnae Chabatgol Literary Group. In 2014, she served as Secretary-General of the Busan Regional Committee of the Korean Center of International PEN, and has since continued to take on various roles within the Busan literary community. In 2023, she was appointed President of Kkotbi Ji-oe at the Busan Dongnae Chabatgol Cultural Center. In January 2024, she assumed the position of Vice President of the Busan Regional Committee of the Korean Center of International PEN, and currently also serves as an auditor. Her published poetry collections include her debut volume The Road Leading to Hope (August 13, 2015), followed by The Life Path Leading to You (April 18, 2022), and her third collection, The Day Flower Petals Pour Down. In recognition of her literary achievements, she received the 11th Culture and Literature Time Literary Work Award (October 17, 2020), the 13th Culture and Literature Time Writer’s Award (October 15, 2022), and the Busan PEN Literature Award for Writers from the Korean Center of International PEN (October 24, 2022). She also won the Excellence Award at the 15th Beautiful Literature Anthology, a quarterly comprehensive literary journal (May 11, 2024). From January 30 to July 3, 2024, she was officially recognized for her literary accomplishments by receiving the International Cultural and Arts Master Certification (Contemporary Chasi Poetry Master).
Bus Stop of the Wind
Bus Stop of the WindThe wind draws a line—
Between here and there,
Between staying and leaving.
I stand on that boundary.
A bus that has not yet arrived;
As time stretches long toward it,
Within the swirling dust
Someone’s footprints grow faint.
Faces brushing past beyond the glass,
All of them going somewhere.
Holding a name that has not yet arrived,
I merely listen to the direction of the wind.
The boundary is always blurred,
So perhaps I, too, am suspended in the air.
When waiting lightens the weight of my body,
Time slowly turns transparent.
That bus riding on the wind—
Will it take me along today?
***
바람의 정류장
바람은 선을 긋는다
이곳과 저곳,
멈춤과 떠남 사이
나는 그 경계에 서 있다
아직 오지 않는 차,
그 차를 향해 시간은 길게 늘어지면
휘날리는 먼지 속에서
누군가의 발자국이 희미해진다
유리창 너머 스치는 얼굴들
모두 어딘가로 가고 있다
나는 아직 도착하지 않은 이름을 품고
그저 바람의 방향을 듣는다
경계는 늘 흐릿해서
어쩌면 나도 떠 있는 건지도 모른다
기다림이 내 몸의 무게를 덜어내면
시간은 서서히 투명해진다
바람 위의 그 차가
오늘은 나를 태워줄까
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