여행자
산성비 내리치네, 바람 부는 저녁
노점상들 모두 판을 거두고
광장에 맨드라미처럼 붉은 발목 내놓고 뛰놀던
아이들 제 집으로 돌아간 뒤
산성의 더러운 빗방울들만
알전구 불빛 아래로 몰리네
구름 밖 교회보다 더 먼 곳에서 돌아온
이 세상에서 가장 늦게 도착한 여행자
옷깃에 아교처럼 달라붙어 펄럭이는 슬픔
등뒤에 캄캄한 문명을 그림자로 드리우고
박쥐우산을 펴들고 천천히 걸어가네
쓸쓸함보다 더 큰 힘이 어디 있으랴
추운 몸으로 너를 안는다
아궁이에 그해의 가장 아름다운 만다라 불꽃이 피어날 때
눈빛에 광채 서린 사생아라도 하나 낳자
여자는 밤새도록 늑골 밑에서 자라는
잎사귀를 똑, 똑 따내리며 슬픈 노래를 하네
손톱에 뜬 초승달마저 바랜 새벽
얼굴에 그린 눈썹 지우며 우네
나무들은 바람 속에서 아득히 흔들리고
들길 너머 진흙 세상으로 돌아가야 하네
고달픈 세월 건너느라 이끼 돋은 몸 속에서
여자는 새를 꺼내 건네네
Traveler
A windy evening, the acid rain beats down
Street vendors close down their stalls.
After children, their bare ankles red from playing,
Like cockscomb flowers in the square, return to their homes.
Only dirty acid raindrops swarm under the light of unshaded bulbs.
Returning from a place further away than the clouds above the church steeple,
The traveler, arriving late in the world,
Fluttering sadness sticking to his collar like glue,
The shadow of dark civilization hang down behind his back,
Walks slowly as he opens and holds a bat-like umbrella.
What could be stronger than loneliness.
He hugs it to his cold body
While the most beautiful flame that year blooms like a Mandala in an Agung-ie,
Let us create a love child with brilliant eyes.
A woman sings a sad song, picking and taking down leaves, tok, tok,
Sorrow grows under her ribs all through the night.
Near dawn the new moon fades from the sky even as it appears on her fingernails,
She cries as she removes the painted eyebrows from her face.
Trees are shaken long by the wind.
She should return to the muddy world beyond the field road.
Inside her body, moss grows,
As, crossing from her wretched time,
She takes out a bird and hands it over.
Note: Agung-ie is the traditional Korean fireplace in the kitchen. It is the starting point of heating the home in Korean traditional houses, called Hanok.
시인 장석주 by Poet, Chang, SeokJoo
The poet, Seok-Ju Chang, was born in Non-San, Chung-Cheong-Nam-Do, South Korea, in January 8, 1955. His first published
work was “Midnight” that he received new and emerging poet award from Monthly Literature in 1975. In 1979, he awarded his poem, “Fly, Gloomy Dream” inChosun Il-Bo, Spring Literature and Dong-A-Il-Bo, Spring Literature, Critique, “Existence and Unrealism”.
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Translated by Clara Soonhee Kwon-Tatum, Ph.D and Matthew Lewis, MA
