Leaning on the Ganges Ghat
Look
Is there anything dirtier than man?
Yoon Bong-Taek, a poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares his poem
Poet Mr. Yoon Bong-Taek was born in Gangjeong Village, Seogwipo-si, in 1956, and completed a master’s degree in literature and a doctorate in cultural heritage at Chonnam National University Graduate School. He was awarded the Halla Ilbo New Year’s Literary Poetry (Jeju Wind) in 1991 and the Rookie of the Year Award for the April issue of Literary Movement in the same year (poetry/Windy Island and four other works). He published poetry collections Farmers Have Longings Too, Where Are the Nameless Flowers, and Unfinished Stories. He served as the president of the Seogwipo Writers’ Association and the chairman of the Seogwipo City Cultural City Project Promotion Council. He is currently the Chairman of the Seogwipo Arts Council, the Chairman of the Tamna Cultural Heritage Preservation Society, the Director of the Seogwipo Buddhist Cultural Center, and the Chairman of the Promotion Committee for the Construction of the Seogwipo Literary Museum. He is serving as a co-representative of ‘Seogwipo’s Citizens’ Group Thinking About the Future’ and is practicing meditation as a Ssanggye hermitage at the Korean Buddhist Institute. He received the Presidential Award for Korean Cultural Heritage in 2012.
The Ganges River Flows
Leaning on the Ganges Ghat
Look
Is there anything dirtier than man?
Cross to another life
With the feast of burning mango trees.
Kailas’s tears continue to flow,
The daytime moon’s longing.
With Pooja’s gestures,
When the wind blows,
Beyond the waves of Deepdan,
If you send the life of this world afloat
Can I hear the words before my life?
On every wave of sparkle,
Letting go of the karma of greed, anger, and foolishness,
Today,
I come to the Ganges and become a river,
Flowing person.
Returning to the lowest place in this world,
Look at the beautiful swimming of that river.
I bow my whole body to the ground and make a pilgrimage.
On that island of longing,
Anchored,
These people.
***
갠지스강은 흐른다
윤봉택
갠지스강Ganges 가트Ghat에 기대어
바라보아라.
사람보다 더 더러운 이 있는지
다른 삶으로 건너
망고나무 사르는 향연으로
카일라스Kailas의 눈물을 이어 내리는
낮달의 그리움
푸자Pooja의 몸짓을 빌어
바람을 날리면,
딥단Deepdan의 물결 너머로
이승의 삶을 띄워 보내면,
삶 전의 말씀을 들을 수 있을까
윤슬 이랑마다
욕심•성냄•어리석음의 업연을 내려 놓으며
오늘은
갠지스로 와 강물 되어
흐르는 사람아
이 세상 가장 낮은 곳으로 돌아서는
저 강물의 아름다운 유영을 보아라
오체 투지로 순례하며
저 그리움의 섬에
닻 내리는
이들을
＊ 2023. 12. 5~14까지 부처님의 성지를 순례 중 갠지스강에서 목욕하면서
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