위대한 식사
산그늘 두꺼워지고 흙 묻은 연장들
허청에 함부로 널브러지고
마당가 매캐한 모깃불 피어오르는
다 늦은 저녁 멍석 위 둥근 밥상
식구들 말없는, 분주한 수저질
뜨거운 우렁된장 속으로 겁 없이
뛰어드는 밤새 울음,
물김치 속으로 비계처럼 둥둥
별 몇 점 떠 있고 냉수 사발 속으로
아, 새까맣게 몰려오는 풀벌레 울음
베어문 풋고추의 독한,
까닭 모를 설움으로
능선처럼 불룩해진 배
트림 몇 번으로 꺼트리며 사립 나서면
태기봉 옆구리를 헉헉,
숨이 가뿐 듯 비틀대는
농주에 취한 달의 거친 숨소리
아, 그날의 위대했던 반찬들이여
The Grand Supper
When the shadow of the mountain thickened and dirt-covered tools
Were carelessly put away in the shed;
When smoky fumes were rising from a mosquito smoker at the edge of the yard;
In the late evening, a round table was set on a straw mat
And my family gathered around it and we silently and busily moved our spoons.
Into a hot, snail miso soup
An all-night cry fearlessly leaped;
A few stars floated in the kimchi soup bowl,
Like pieces of lard; into the cold water bowl,
Oh, the sound of grasshoppers swarmed.
My belly swelled like a ridgeline
Because of the unknown sorrow of
The spicy green hot pepper.
When I left through the gate, calming my belly with a few burps,
And breathlessly turned around the slope below Taegibong Peak,
Staggering and panting,
I heard the gasping of the Moon drunken with farmer’s wine.
Oh, how grand the side dishes that day were!
이재무 1958년생 시인, 대학 교수, [슬픔에게 무릎을 꿇다] 외 다수
Translated by 전승희 Seung-Hee Jeon
(literary critic and translator, editor of Asia: A Magazine of Asian Literature)
