Even dogs and fowls
have dreams to dream–so some believe.
True, springtime is good for dreaming,
yet I go dreamless.
If only I could dream
and dream till the end of my days. . .
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
poetry
Fishermen by Sowol Kim
What bliss it is to be blind to life’s futility.
Today as usual from the far-off village
a fishing boat has set out to sea, I hear–
how fearful were the waves billowing last year!
transalated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Some Day by Sowol Kim
If you should call me some day
I would say: “I’ve forgotten about you.”
If you should reproach me–
“I’ve missed you much and had to give up.”
If you should reproach me again–
“I’ve forgotten because I cannot trust you anymore.”
Day after day I’ve been thinking about you
until some day I will say: “I’ve forgotten.”
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
untitled poem by Sowol Kim
I miss the place where my beloved is.
I miss her because I cannot serve her.
Don’t you ever watch a bird winging
north and south, drawn home by instinct?
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Hope by Sowol Kim
Night comes and snow falls.
On the edge of a brook
I hear an owl hooting forever in the mountains.
Fallen leaves lie scattered under the snow.
What a bleak landscape–
a moment too late I realize
how to be wise after sorrow.
Things of this world
are an idle show,
the skin-deep beauty our mind creates.
In the sweet-scented autumn night
the trees throw twisting shadows
on leaves torn off by the lashing rain.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Optimism by Sowol Kim
I must take comfort,
take life as it comes
the way the wind whines in the trees
stripped of flowers and foliage.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Love’s Gift by Sowol Kim
These tears dripping for love,
these pearl-like tears,
I wish to spread together
with an imperishable red thread
for my beloved to wear around her neck
as a gift of love.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
A Lump of Grief by Sowol Kim
With incense burning, I kneel in prayer,
a lump of grief stuck in my heart.
Under a sliced moon the rain moans as it falls,
a lump of grief stuck in my heart.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Foreign Country by Sowol Kim
I turn to look at an iron bridge
I’ve crossed before I realize
I’ve set foot in a foreign land.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Road by Sowol Kim
Again last night
in a country inn
I heard a crow cawing all night.
Today
where shall I be bound?
How many more miles to go?
Up to the mountains,
onto the plains?
No, no place beckons.
No more talk.
To my home in the far north
trains and boats travel.
Tell me,
wild goose in the skies,
is there a sky-road that you travel so freely?
Wild goose in the skies,
look at me standing
at the crossroads.
The road radiates
in many directions
yet none of them can I choose.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Leonard Durso 