KIM, Sowol

Invocation

A name shattered in pieces:

A name vanished in the air:

A name with no response

Yet will I be calling it, till I die

My dear,

Oh, My dear

You are gone at length.

And I did not tell you how much I’d loved you.

The bright sun sets over the mountain.
Even the deer cry put hear-broken.
I call to you
Standing on a lone crest of a mountain.

I am calling you in teats.

I’m calling you in teats.
But, oh, too hollow is the space between
the heaven and the earth
For my voice to reach you.

I’ll be calling you till my death
Even if I be turned into a stone
My love.

My dear love.


Oh, Mother, Oh Sister

Oh, mother and sister,

Come live with me by the river.

In garden, glows of golden sands in glitter

Hums of reeds outside rear-gate.

Oh, mother and sister,

Come live with me by the river


Wild Flowers of the Mountains

In the mountains are blowing flowers,

there the flowers blow,

autumn, spring and summer through,

there the flowers blow.

In the mountains far and near,

In the mountains everywhere,

there the flowers bloom and blow,

so lovely, wild and fair.

In the mountains are singing birds,

where the flowers blow;

There they sing the seasons through

because the flowers blow

In the mountains are blowing flowers,

and there the flowers wilt;

autumn, spring and summer through,

there the flowers wilt.

Unable to Forget

Unable to forget, you recall your love;

Yet let life pass away, though in pain.

One day you may be able to forget.

Unable to forget, you recall your love;

Yet just bid the years to slip away.

Unable to forget, you may still forget a little.


The Sea

where are the waters

whose waves pulse, rise, fall, swell—

as the seaweed grows red?

where are the waters

whose fishermen lie in their boats—

singing songs of love and chance?

where are the waters

whose skies die gently at twilight—

cobalt from grey from cool black?

where are the waters

whose wandering birds build flocks—

more massive as they recede into distances?

where are the waters

I would cross over, without a thought—

the last sea without land on the other side?


Azalea Flowers

When you feel disgusted looking at me

And if you feel like leaving me

I will let you go without whining a word

I will go to Yongbyon's Yaksan (Mountain)

I will bring an armful of azaleas

I will lay the azalea flowers on the path you'd take

Softly, lightly,

take one step after another on the fresh flowers

as you're going away

You may go away if you feel disgusted looking at me

I will not let a single tear drop fall

I'd rather die if you leave me, though

Road

Yesterday again

at an inn

I spent a sleepless night with the cawing crows.

Today

how many more miles

on my journey I don't know whither?

Shall I climb the hill

or walk on the field?

Wanted nowhere, I cannot go any farther.

Don't mention my home

at Kwaksan, Chongju,

where trains go and boats too

Look at the geese

in mid air.

Are they flying so well because there's a path?

Look at the geese

in mid air.

I'm standing right at a crossroads.

Of all the roads branching

to all directions,

There's none for me to take readily

Song of the Stream

If you had been born as a wind!

In the middle of an empty field by the stream at moonrise

you would blow loose all the ties of my clothes.

Or if we had been born as wriggling white bugs!

We would try dreaming that foolish dream

of a rainy black night at the foot of some hill.

If only you had been born as a rock on a cliff

where the sea comes to its end,

the two of us would embrace and tumble in.

Let my body be the spirit of fire
burning in your heart the night through,

the two of us burn to ash and vanish


I didn't know till now

That the moon rises nightly, in spring or fall,

I didn't know till now.

How much I'd suffer from longing

I didn't know till now.

That the moon is there, no matter how bright,

I didn't know till now.

That the moon is for all the sorrow

I didn't know till now.