Poems of the Squares (Poet : Jeong Sehun)
Historical truth has been established with the blood of the people.
Historical lies have been established with the guns and swords of the powerful.
The March 1 Anti-Japanese Independence Movement in 1919,
The April 19 Revolution in 1960,
The May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980,
The June 10 Democratization Struggle in 1987—
Soaked with blood, soaked with blood, soaked with blood, soaked with blood,
The square of pro-Japanese power,
Abuse of power and corruption,
Military dictatorship,
And of guns and swords—
Time has flown by
While still
The history of truth has been soaked in the blood of the people,
The history of lies has praised the guns and swords of the powerful—
In November 2016
All poems in the world
Became millions of burning candles
And occupied that square.
Dear children, students, the youth, and the elderly,
Dear farmers, workers, clerks, and merchants,
You
Who became candles
And lit the square
Are the poems of the square!
In front of the guns and swords that have been establishing historical lies,
Candle-lights that brightened the square of blood—
The bloodshed, the bloodshed, the bloodshed,
The blood that has always established historical truth—
In order not to be put out
By the pathetically furious wind of power,
Candle-lights continue to light again and again
The wicks, deep wicks of each other’s candles,
And write a grand epic,
Majestic and vast,
Everlasting and eternal,
An exhilarating, elating, and beautiful-voiced epic
That tells us, no matter how gusty the winds,
They have never won out against the grass;
After trying to beat it down,
Over and over again,
The winds just
Die down,
As the grass rises up–
And up, over and over again;
As people establish historical truth
With their blood
Against the guns and swords of the powerful,
The candle-lights of the people
Will continue to be relit and to burn, over and over again.
