In the forest, trees gather together and live.

Under the big trees, small trees.

Under the small trees, charming little wildflowers.

Dr. Lee, Hye Seon, an eminent poetess from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares her poems  

Poetess Dr. Lee, Hye Seon graduated from the Korean language and literature department of Dongguk University and obtained a doctor of literature degree from Sejong University. She has taught at several universities including Dongguk University. She made her debut in 1981 through the monthly literature Magazine ‘Simunhak’. She writes poetry and literary criticism. She has won Korea Free Literature Prize, Modern Poet Prize, Dongguk Literary Prize, and Korea Literary Critics Association Prize (in criticism).

She has published 3 books of poetry including One God, 3 collections of criticism including Metamorphosis of Literature and Dream and Famous Poems Promenade by Lee Hye Seon.

Her early literary trend was based on the sense of history. Rooted in Korea’s traditional emotions and the Buddhist spirit, her poetry demonstrates a strong sense of identity formed by the meeting of temporality and the sense of collective national awareness. Her more recent poetry celebrates cosmic perceptions and an awareness of the transcendental world, undifferentiated sympathy for universal existences including close neighbors, and a world of beautiful rainbows emanating from self-reflections.

Wikipedia Photo

IN THE FOREST VILLAGGE

In the forest, trees gather together and live.

Under the big trees, small trees.

Under the small trees, charming little wildflowers.

Sprouting and stretching their stems, living together in harmony.

In the forest, trees gather together and live.

Big trees hold the hands of small trees.

Small trees lift the seated wildflowers.

Blooming and smiling, living together in harmony.

As soon as you enter the forest, the sunlight smiles.

The stream exposes its lower body and laughs too.

In the forest, laughter blooms each season.

In the forest, even tears bloom into flowers.

***

NON-DUALITY*, LEANING ON EACH OTHER

While driving on the highway,

I saw a mountain leaning on a tree.

I saw a tree leaning on the sky.

While sailing the boat,

On the way to Cheongsan-do,

I saw water leaning on droplets.

I saw the sky leaning on a seagull’s wing.

The earth leans on seeds to bloom,

And a mother’s breast grows as it leans on her baby.

At dusk,

I saw weeds in the field leaning on each other’s shoulders.

On those shoulders, mayflies had settled down,

Falling into a deep sleep.

*Non-duality: A world without discrimination and differentiation. From the perspective of interdependence, you and I, existence and non-existence, life and death, beauty and ugliness are fundamentally interconnected as one. The relationship between the one and the many is essentially non-dual, existing within a web of relationships.

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"