Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
Translation by Byeong Cheol Kang
Poetess Yang Geum-Hee was born in 1967 in Jeju, Korea. She has published two collections of poetry books, “Happiness Account” and “Ieodo, Island of Legend and Existence”, as well as one collection of essays titled “Happy Companion”. She was the first president of the Ieodo Literature Association, the editor-in-chief of the Jejuin News, and worked as a research fellow at the Society of Ieodo Research. She served as a researcher at the Jeju Sea Grand Center at Jeju National University and a specially appointed professor at Jeju International University. Currently, she is an editorial writer for the New Jeju Ilbo, a special researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of Jeju National University, a vice-president of the Jeju Regional Committee of the Korean PEN Center, an Executive of the Jeju Institute for Korean Unification, and an Executive of the Korean Association of Ethics. She has won four literary awards.
Nests of Birds
Birds do not build their homes
for themselves,
but for their young ones
They build nests in bushes or tree holes
and share warmth with each other
With that strength,
they become the wind,
they become the clouds,
to open their way to the sky
Knowing their destiny is to fly high,
birds do not build nests to stay.
새들의 둥지
새들은 제 몸을 위해
집을 짓지 않는다
어린 새끼를 위해 둥지를 튼다
덤불 속, 나무 구멍 속
서로 온기를 나눈다
그 힘으로
하늘에 길을 열기 위해
바람이 된다
구름이 된다
창공을 날아야하는 숙명을 아는 새는
머물기 위해 둥지를 틀지 않는다.
Small moments, great happiness
In small moments, as always,
I feel great happiness.
When the morning sunlight shines on my face,
It’s like all the worries in the world disappear.
In the moment when the spring rain tickles my fingertips
And my palms get wet,
Or when I walk along the riverbank in the soft wind
And my face gets touched by the evening glow,
In the gentle breeze,
When the river water makes a rippling sound,
And in the moment when I can hear
The beating of my own heart,
Even in these small moments,
There is great happiness.
짧은 순간 큰 행복
언제나 그렇듯 작은 순간에
큰 행복을 느끼고 있네요
아침 햇살이 내 얼굴에 비치면
마치 세상 모든 걱정이 사라진 것 같아요
봄비가 손가락 끝을 간지럽히고
손바닥이 젖어오는 순간
부드러운 바람 부는 강변을 걷다가
저녁노을에 얼굴이 물드는 순간
부드러운 바람에
강물이 찰랑거리는 소리를 내는 순간
내 심장의 박동이
들리는 순간
이렇게 작은 순간에도
큰 행복이 깃들어 있어요
