Through the clouds, through

The moon shyly breaks into view.

Form and emptiness ebb and flow,

Playing a game of hide-and-show.

Lee, Do yeon, an eminent poetess from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, shares her poem

Poetess Ms. Lee, Do yeon graduated from Busan Women’s University and received the 2013 Quarterly Culture and Literature Time Newcomer Award. She served on the editorial board of the quarterly Culture and Literature Time, the editorial board of Dong-gu Newspaper, and as the secretary-general of the Busan Regional Committee of the International PEN Korea Headquarters. She published her poetry collections ‘The Road to Hope’ and ‘Life’s Road to You’. She has won the 11th Culture and Literature Time Best Picture Award, the 13th Culture and Literature Time Writer Award, the International PEN Korean Headquarters Busan PEN Literature Award Writer Award, the 14th White Lotus Poetry Recitation Award, and the Korea Culture and Arts Award (Tea Culture Education Award). She is currently the Vice President of the Busan Regional Committee of the International PEN Korea Headquarters, the Vice President of the Ieodo Literary Literature Association, and the Vice President of the Korean Association of World Literature.

The Presence of the Moon

Late at night, as the day meets its end,

In a sky where streetlights no glow can lend,

Down a dark alley, winding and tight,

A soft gleam flickers through clouds in the night.

Through the clouds, through

The moon shyly breaks into view.

Form and emptiness ebb and flow,

Playing a game of hide-and-show.

Lifting my head to glimpse its light,

I find it follows me, soft and white.

With a scent of asters in the air,

It whispers, “Go on, without a care.”

Above my head, like silver beams,

It guides my path with gentle gleams.

***

달의 존재

늦은 밤, 하루가 끝나갈 때,

어둠에 잠긴 하늘엔 가로등도 빛을 잃네.

구불구불 좁은 골목길,

구름 사이로 희미한 빛이 아른거린다.

구름 사이로, 사이로,

수줍게 달이 모습을 드러낸다.

형체와 공허가 물결치듯,

숨고 또 나타나며 놀이를 즐긴다.

빛을 보려 고개 들어 올리니,

부드럽고 하얗게 달이 따라오네.

구절초 향기가 스쳐 가며,

“걱정하지 말고 가라”고 속삭인다.

내 머리 위, 은빛처럼 빛나는 달,

부드러운 빛으로 길을 비춰준다.

_______________

Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"