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Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Two Poems by Lisa Yoon Les



인연 (원제: 부모님)

파도처럼 넘치는
두 어머니의 새벽 정안수
그에게 넘쳐흘러
폭풍우가 되고

어느 두메산골
툇마루 절간
반야의 수행길이
개벽처럼 열린다.

칠흑의 어두운
고요와 고뇌의 돌계단
저 멀리 반딧불처럼
반짝이는 백호의 눈빛
그의 길 위에 출렁이고

어머니의 손에 이끌려
처음처럼 수줍은 아낙
아뇩다라 그의 눈빛과
인연으로 설레라.


Meant to be
Two mothers pray at dawn
before the divine freshly drawn water
Soon exploded like a surging wave
and became a thunderstorm.

At a toenmaru
of a Buddhist temple,
He practices the Heart Sutra
as the world begins.

The stone steps with the
pitch-dark of the silence and agony
On his way, gazing the gleaming eyes
of the white tiger for guidance far away.

A girl with her mother standing
with a shy smile like the first time
Their eyes, fluttering hearts met in the air
the universe quotes "It was meant to be"


About the poem인연(Meant to be): This poem is originally written in Korean and was awarded in a poetry contest. The poem describes the poet's parents who first met each other at a temple on the mountain.



클러치를 든 그녀
내 곁을 스쳐가네
클러치를 든 그녀
코끝을 간지럽히는
그녀의 가을 꽃 향기

노트북에 탑재된 채
그녀의 지성이 되어 주던
기호, 코드, 빅데이터
아차! 백팩에서 사라졌네. 

중력으로 늘어진 백팩
그 안에 유영하던 화려한 물고기
그녀의 심장에 닿기 위해
오늘도 몇 시간을 헤엄치다
아차! 그녀의 머릿속만 훔쳤네.


Girl who carries a clutch

The girl who carries a clutch
is just passing me by
Her fragrance of autumn sweetness
soothing my slight pain.

The codes, signs and big data
packed and alive in her backpack
Ready to be her intelligence, but
O heavens! They are all gone.

Gravity matters droopy backpack
The fish swimming in it elegantly
Thou trying to reach out her heart
O heavens! only stole her brain.


About the poem클러치를 든 그녀(Girl who carries a clutch): This poem is originally written in Korean and was translated into the English language later by the poet herself. The poem describes a girl who used to carry a backpack with a laptop which had a large amount of information. Now she carries a clutch which means she remembers most of the knowledge in her brain but not in her heart yet as she had dreamt.

4 comments:

  1. Beautiful. And thanks for giving us both the Korean and the English. ;-)

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  2. Agreed, thanks so much for sharing the poems and the background of each. They are wonderful.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Totally agree! The words are brilliant! The poems made me read again and again. Beautiful! I could imagine both ladies in the poems. :)

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