Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi
BLAZING SUMMER SUN
The blazing summer sun
pours down fiercely
so that sweat streams from our bodies
and our faces grow dark with tan.
When sweat pours down,
it tells us to stand in the breeze;
when our faces are darkened by the sun,
it tells us to rest in the shade.
The blazing sun keeps calling us outside.
It calls everyone out
to see the rice thriving in the paddies,
the beans flourishing in the bean fields,
growing stronger day by day.
To see the potatoes in the potato patch,
the sorghum in the sorghum field,
waving and growing tall—
the blazing summer sun shines down
throughout the whole of midsummer.
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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