Man between Mind and Eye
마음과 눈 사이의 남자( 파키스탄 신드쿠리에 신문)
Man between Mind and Eye – A Poem from Korea
By
January 17, 2025
A man walks along the street,
Precariously carrying a day’s burden,
Trudging along the street where the white snowflakes break.
Blowing a horn is something beyond this world.
Ms. Yeon Myung-ji, a poet from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares her poem
Yeon Myung-ji, a poet from South Korea, began her literary career in 2013 by publishing “Gashibi” with Minerva Publishing. She then published “Sitting like an Apple” and “Seventeen Miss Marco Polo.” She won the 2023 Homi Literary Award and the Gyeongbuk Ilbo
Guesthouse Literary Award.
Man between Mind and Eye
Snow pours down
Snow crumbles
Snow melts.
A man walks along the street,
Precariously carrying a day’s burden,
Trudging along the street where the white snowflakes break.
Blowing a horn is something beyond this world.
In the city where snow meets snow to make a snowstorm
A stranger with covered ears and eyes
Seeps and melts into snow.
The man traveling to a distant place is weeping.
The cloud’s shade falls
And the snow’s gloom thickens.
When evening’s worries detain the road,
The man’s sorrow cascades as blizzard.
Automobiles move slowly.
On a road devoid of boundaries
The man who was crying with his face dipping into snowflakes
Pushes his tears and passes through winter’s country.
On a day snow falls
Like a confession never made to anyone.
(Translated by Chang Soo Ko)
***
마음과 눈 사이의 남자
눈이 쏟아지고
눈이 허물어지고
눈이 녹고
차도를 한 남자가 걷는다
위태로운 자세로 하루의 등짐을 무겁게 지고
하얀 눈발이 부러지는 거리를 걷는다
빵빵거리는 건 저 너머 세상의 일
눈과 눈이 만나 폭설을 이룬 도시에서
귀를 막고 눈을 막은 모르는 남자가
눈에 스며들어 녹아내리고 있다
먼 곳으로 가는 남자 등 울고있다
구름의 그늘이 떨어지며
눈의 우울도 깊어진다
저녁의 근심이 도로를 가둘 때
남자의 슬픔이 함박눈으로 내린다
자동차들이 느리게 간다
경계가 없어진 차도에서
눈발에 얼굴을 묻고 울던 그 남자는
눈물을 밀고 겨울의 나라를 지나간다
누구에게도 말하지 못한 고백처럼
눈이 내리는 날에
___________________
