표정
빌라 많은 동네를 걷다가
길을 잃었다
화곡동 언덕을 빼곡히 채운 빌라들에는
주소가 큼지막하게 쓰여있고
이름도, 색깔도, 모습도 다르다
절이 있고
성당도 교회도 있지만
초등학교도 유아원도 있지만
언덕을 몇 개 넘고 나자
그것들이 도움이 되지 않았다
이후
빌라에 표정을 붙이기 시작했다
주차장 한 켠에 금식나무가 자라는 집
오방기가 나부끼는 집
대문 지붕에 우거진 장미가 빨강 꽃잎을 떨구는 집
여름 내내 나팔잎이 초록 커튼을 드리운 집
감들이 꽃처럼 피어난 집
늙은 호박이 창틀에 놓여 있는 집
계절마다 표정을 갖춘 집들이 늘어났고
길은 선명해졌다
살아온 날을 담은 당신의 얼굴처럼
Faces
Walking through a neighborhood dense with villas,*
I lost my way.
The villas packed tight across the hills of Hwagok-dong
have their addresses written large.
Each one different — name, color, shape.
There is a Buddhist temple,
a cathedral, churches,
an elementary school, kindergartens —
but after crossing a few hills,
none of them helped.
After that,
I began giving the villas faces.
The home where a kumquat tree grows in a corner of the parking lot.
The home where obanggi** flags flutter.
The home where roses sprawling over the gate roof drop their red petals.
The home where morning glory leaves hang a green curtain all summer long.
The home where persimmons bloom like flowers.
The home where an old pumpkin rests on the windowsill.
More and more homes found their faces with each season,
and the way became clear —
like your face, which holds all the days you have lived.
*Villa: in Korea, a low-rise multi-unit residential building, distinct from the Western sense of the word.
**Obanggi: traditional Korean five-colored flags representing the five directions and elements — blue, white, red, black, and yellow.