A lovely face, washed clean with morning dew,
A blossom opening like a butterfly at rest.
Poet Ms. You Youn sook was born in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, and graduated from the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Kyung Hee University. She won first prize in the poetry division of the Kyung Hee University Literary Contest three times. She received third prize in the poetry division of the 6th Shin Saimdang Commemorative Literary Contest and also earned an honorable mention in the Yeongnam Women’s Literary Contest hosted by the Busan Ilbo newspaper. In 2024, she was selected in the literary category of the Gyeonggi-do Senior Creative Works Contest. In the same year, she won the Gold Prize at the 1st National Poetry Recitation Contest hosted by Ieodo Literature. She made her literary debut through Munyesajo and currently serves as Vice President of the Munyesajo Writers’ Association. She is also Vice President of the Ieodo Literary Society and the Korean World Literature Association. She received the Grand Excellence Award in the poetry category at the 32nd Munyesajo Literary Awards and the Main Prize in the poetry category at the 34th Munyesajo Literary Awards. Her poetry collection is titled Excreting the Waste.
The Egret Orchid
A lovely face, washed clean with morning dew,
A blossom opening like a butterfly at rest.
At just a single glance from me,
It seems it might take wing, a butterfly in flight.
Though my heart longs to gently caress it,
I quietly hide that yearning away.
As the sun sinks into the crimson dusk,
And the moonlight filters through the leaves,
Thoughts of you rise softly within me,
So I open the window and look beyond.
“How are you?”
Should you happen to ask,
“I long to see you—if only in my dreams,”
That is what I would say.
해오라기 蘭
이슬 세수 고운 얼굴
나비 앉듯 피어나는 꽃
내 눈짓 한 번에도
나비 되어 날아갈까
쓰다듬고 싶은 마음
애써 그만 감추네
노을 속 해 잠기고
나뭇잎 사이 달 비칠 때
떠오르는 그대 생각
창문 열어 봅니다
“당신은 어떤가요?”
그대 혹시 물으시면
“꿈에라도 보고파요.”
그리 말씀드리리라.
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