In your pocket that contains desire and hatred, may you place the seeds, so that they may grow into the national flower of the country you have trampled!
O, Sung-in, a poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares his poem
Poet Mr. O, Sung-in, was born in Gwangju Metropolitan City, Korea, in 1987, and currently resides in Naju, Jeollanam-do, not far from Gwangju, where he dedicates himself to the craft of poetry. He made his literary debut in 2013 with “Poet’s Notebook” and has since released two collections of poetry: “Blue-Eyed Witness,” published by “Literary Notebook” in 2018, and “Where Does This Car Go,” a poetry collection published by “Walker” in 2023. With his first poetry collection, “Blue-Eyed Witness,” he received the Daesan Creation Fund, organized and hosted by the Daesan Cultural Foundation in 2018, and he was honored with the 2nd Naju Literary Award in 2019. Additionally, he is a member of the Young Writers Forum of the Korea Writers’ Association.
Seeds in your pocket
Like waste products blocking blood vessels
Every road from the border into the city
The procession of tanks continues.
Anytime day or night
Bombardment rains down on people of all ages and genders
Kindergarten, school, hospital, cathedral
All buildings collapse and are engulfed in fire.
The pregnant woman who was giving birth died.
A six-year-old child died.
Instead of the scent of flowers and grass,
Black and acrid screams rise from everywhere.
The dead people’s eyes haven’t even closed yet.
They couldn’t even sing a requiem to the dead.
The cannonballs fall with sadness that has not yet dried
The remains of collapsed buildings and the dead are tangled together.
Plant a flag and raise a toast in a city in ruins
Busy leaders, if you trace your past life,
Somewhere the memory of the massacre will be engraved like a sign of reincarnation.
They must have woken up to a cold feeling once in a while.
That flock of birds crossing the border in a flock
Anyone with order and freedom, reality and ideals
They have the right to call themselves whatever they want.
Therefore, lay down all your sins and weapons to the God within you.
In your pocket that contains desire and hatred
May you place the seeds,
So that they may grow into the national flower of the country you have trampled*
I hope this cruel feast stops now.
[*On February 24, 2022, Russia claimed that the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were providing military support to Ukraine and threatening the country. Consequently, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, which included launching an airstrike on the Ukrainian capital Kiev with missiles and deploying ground troops.
On the day of the invasion, a woman approached two Russian soldiers on the streets of Henicesk, a port city in Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine, and shouted, “Why did you come to my country?” and “Put the seeds in your pocket so, after you die, sunflowers will be able to grow in Ukraine,” she said. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.]
***
주머니에 씨앗을
오성인
혈관을 막고 있는 노폐물처럼
국경에서 도시로 들어가는 길목마다
전차의 행렬이 이어지고 있다
밤낮을 가리지 않고
남녀노소를 가리지 않고 빗발치는 포격
유치원이 학교가 병원이 성당이
무너져 내리고 화마에 휩싸인다
아이를 낳던 임산부가 죽었고
여섯 살 난 어린아이가 죽었다
꽃향기와 풀 냄새 대신 곳곳에서 검고
매캐한 비명이 피어오른다
죽은 이들의 눈이 아직 다 감기지도 않았는데
죽은 이들에게 진혼곡조차 들려주지 못했는데
마르지도 않은 슬픔으로 포탄은 떨어지고
무너진 건물의 잔해와 망자들이 뒤엉킨
폐허의 도시에서 깃발을 꽂고 축배를 들기
분주한 작자들, 전생을 더듬어 보면 어디쯤
학살의 기억이 윤회의 징표처럼 새겨져
있을 텐데 한 번씩은 서늘한 기운에 몸을
종종 뒤척이기도 했을 텐데
무리를 이뤄 국경을 넘나드는 저 새 떼를
질서와 자유, 현실과 이상으로 누구든
마음대로 부를 권리가 있으니
그러므로 그대들 안의 신에게 모든 죄와
무기를 내려놓기를
욕망과 증오 대신 주머니에
그대들이 짓밟았던 나라의 국화가
자랄 수 있도록 그 씨앗을 넣어 두기를*
지금이라도 참혹한 잔치를 그만두기를
* 2022년 2월 24일, 러시아는 미국과 ‘북대서양조약기구(NATO)’가 우크라이나를 군사 지원하며 자국을 위협한다는 구실로 우크라이나 수도 키예프를 미사일로 공습하고 지상군을 투입하는 등 전면 침공을 감행했다. 침공 당일 우크라이나 남부 헤르손주의 항구도시인 헤니체스크의 길거리에서 한 여성이 러시아 군인 두 명에게 다가가 “내 나라에 왜 온 거냐”며 호통을 치고 “당신이 죽은 뒤에 우크라이나 땅에 해바라기가 자랄 수 있도록 주머니에 씨앗을 넣어 두라.”고 말했다. 해바라기는 우크라이나의 국화다.
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