Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi
THE SOURCE
I once believed that writing poetry was the expression of noble emotions, the realisation of profound thoughts.
But I've come to understand with age that this isn't the case.
I once thought that love was as urgent as matters of life and death, residing in a special, noble realm.
But now, in my later years, I realise that this was a mistake born of blind faith.
Looking back from the downstream of life, I see that poetry and love resemble the mundane things of daily life,
mixed with the noise and dust of the marketplace.
They emerge like sprouts in the midst of weariness, in anxious toil, during sleepless nights of deep contemplation,
and on the exhausting commute to home after work, welling up like a hidden spring
Ihlwha Choi is a South Korean poet. He has published multiple poetry collections, such as Until the Time When Our Love will Flourish, The Color of Time, His Song and The Last Rehearsal.
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