A Face
Full of wrinkles,
Like a fan on a hot day,
Like a stove on a cold day.
It ripples while smiling,
It furrows while laughing.
Strong against wind,
Weak against water, like window paper.
Desolate
Like the ceiling of a moonlit room.
Like the afternoon mountain shadow in the backyard,
Like scriptures hand-copied in a notebook.
Lee Jae-mu : born in 1958, professor, poetry [ I Surrender to Sadness ] etc
Translated by Seung-Hee Jeon