Trees
When the sky gets dark as if erased
Trees go to an unknown underworld
Young trees play on the swings and swim in the pool
Old trees knead their aching legs
And sometimes lie down to sleep.
It’s a lie to say
That trees have been standing in one place all this time.
No matter what they try,
Their feet still fall asleep.
Here is a little secret
The Ginko trees at Yongmunsa and the Oak trees at Sillimdong
Have survived like that for a thousand years.
If you look out over the forest
From an apartment in the middle of the night
There won’t be a single tree
But only a dark hole as though a bomb had landed
And when daylight comes
Trees rise to the ground
Playing innocent with us.
.
Han, Hye-yung : poet, Author of children’s story, sijo-poet
Translated by Hwahyun Lee
