Tag: South Korean

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Poetry

Sunflower

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain 
In those far-off, flower-like days,
before a flickering oil lamp,
I wrote, then erased, then wrote again—
Running only toward you, always toward you,
like the tender heart of first love,
I bloom at last into a single, radiant flower.
This longing, both aching and earnest,
must be a precious gift for me by the Creator.
Ah, dear companion,
will this yearning, burning beneath the scorching sky,
one day fade— as the breeze drifts softly through the autumn fields,
leaving me standing alone in the empty plain,
shivering and weeping in the cold wind?
Today, under the blazing heat of the noonday sun,
my life burns hot with passion.
Even I can no longer contain my heart,
beneath the shining sun,
as all living things sway in the hymn of life,
I, too, offer my heart
like a great lantern of petals turned solely toward you.
In this long, hot summer field,
all day long, I am consumed by this fiery devotion.

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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PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

The Last Letter

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain
Every time I write to you a letter,
I pray it won’t be the last.
Why is my love so unstable?

If I look away for just a moment,
it feels as if you might fly far away.
I hope this letter isn’t the last.

But if the seasons change,
and I hear nothing back from you,
this could become the last letter.

That word — last — brings sorrow.

If I receive no reply from you,
and this letter is
the final one I ever send,
then winter will come,
and I’ll watch the snow fall alone.
Spring will come again,
and I’ll walk the blooming fields by myself.

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

Lost Poem

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain 
I got distracted and pressed delete by mistake --
a poem I had laboured over for more than ten days, gone.

I try to retrace it, like under hypnosis,
but only shattered words lie scattered in my mind.

I scramble to piece the fragments together,
but the lines in between are beyond recovery.

A poem has no blueprint,
just as life offers no formula to fall back on.

One poem, broken to bits.
One thought, fading into the distance.

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

Among Strangers

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain 
All day long, I live among strangers.
I sit side by side with a stranger on the bus, rattling along,
Choose tomatoes at the market with someone I don’t know.
My elementary school friends live far away,
And I’ve lost touch with my comrades from the army.
Childhood friends I flew kites with,
Neighbours I once shared raw sweet potatoes with —I’ve lost track of them.
Every day, I meet people, eat lunch together,
Chat like old acquaintances for a moment,
But soon, we become strangers again.
I exchange words with the dry cleaner,
Grumble about the world with the local barber,
But soon, we become strangers again.
For a while, I’m familiar with the doctor as a patient,
Live like family with the nurses,
But as soon as I’m discharged, 
we become strangers again.
Those who were once close become distant,
Drinking buddies who once felt like brothers turn into strangers before I know it.
A strange world gradually becomes familiar,
And the familiar world, once again, turns strange.

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

Roadside Ritual

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

Embraced in a friend’s arms,
a framed portrait enters the school gate.

Wearing glasses, dressed in a school uniform,
With a heavy backpack,
He walked sluggishly to school every day.
But today, it’s the last time, surrounded by friends.

The principal follows behind.
The homeroom teacher trails along, gloomy.
The old security guard stands in his booth,
watching the procession through the glass window.
A short while later, the procession leaves again.
Along the school fence, yellow
forsythias bloom like black mourning ribbons.

Forsythias. From Public Domain

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

The Bird’s Funeral

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

Last night, in the bitter cold,
the bird died.
We decided on a five-day funeral,
debating whether to bury or cremate,
and finally chose a sky burial
on a sunlit grassy hill.
After preparing the body
and finishing the rites,
we headed to the burial site.
A green parrot,
untimely lost, died unaware of the season.
Leaves had just begun to sprout,
and the spring wind blew
across the bright meadow.
Driving the hearse to the site,
we scattered grains for the journey,
and laid the body gently
amid the dry grass.
In the distance, clouds billowed
like funeral banners,
and after a few sparrows
came to pay their respects,
the funeral was over.
The bird had died,
but its flight lived on.
When we returned for the third memorial,
the bird was nowhere to be seen—
its rain-soaked remains
had dried and scattered in the wind.

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

My Father’s Jacket

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain
The father, who is nearing the end of his life in this world,
gave me his winter jacket.
A black jacket he once wore with style,
on which thick snowflakes piled on cold shoulders,
a jacket that warmed itself by the stove in a soup restaurant.

A jacket with mismatched buttons,
worn through a life marked by crooked paths,
Unable to rest peacefully at the center of the universe,
tossing and turning like a migratory bird that had lost its way,
wandering through unfamiliar lands,
spending sleepless nights in the cold.
So that I may spend my winters warmly,
so that I may button my life neatly and live upright,
my father handed me his jacket,
like an offering of regret.
In the early winter that chills the heart again and again,
wearing my father’s outdated winter jacket,
I briefly trace the worn path of his difficult life.

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

Lines on returning to Korea from Santiniketan

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

Santiniketan
Korea
From Public Domain
HOMECOMING 

(From Santiniketan)
 
How much longer will my life's list remain?
The journey, from trivialities to its end, is nearing.
I gauge the volume of toothpaste and soap scraps,
Count the dates of paid meals—homecoming is at hand.
Writing a day's journal, I confirm the remaining path.
The budget thins as much as my frame,
Unfinished books and unfulfilled plans erased,
Leaving behind the sprawling naps of stray dogs
And the countless steps of wandering gods.
Like autumn trees shedding leaves, I gather my departure.
Endless cycles of meeting and parting,
The wheel of samsara* turns again.
With the endless procession of foreign words fading,
I return again to a long-familiar daily life.
Affection, like water colour, spreads too easily.
The resilient chains of bonds encircle me like tree rings,
I endure the pain like a sharp needle's prick,
Packing all my lingering regrets carefully into my backpack.
How many seasons must pass
For the pain to ripen and fall once more?



*Sanskrit word for World

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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

A Spring Afternoon in Korea

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain 
ON THE RESERVED SEAT SECTION OF THE SUBWAY 
                                            

A grandfather with his young granddaughter boards the train.
He pauses briefly in front of the reserved seats, then sits down.
As the little girl tries to sit, he explains, 
"This seat is for grandpas and grandmas."

Beside the seats, there’s a small sign,
showing a person with a cane, a person with a round belly,
a person on crutches, a person holding a baby.

The subway clanks along,
and the child stands in front of the reserved seat section,
fiddling with a smartphone.

Sitting on a nearby seat, I almost say,
“Sit next to your grandpa,” but hold back—
It might sound like encouragement to break the rules.
Children should learn to follow public etiquette.

She tries perching on an empty seat,
but stands up quickly after a moment,
still toying with her phone.

On this sunny spring afternoon,
the grandfather, eyes gently closed, sits in the reserved seat,
while the spring sunlight shines beside him.

His young granddaughter stands, swaying as she clutches the pole,
clanking forward, toward tomorrow.


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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International

Categories
Poetry

Hidden Springs

Poetry and translation from Korean by Ihlwha Choi

From Public Domain
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.

.

PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL. 

Click here to access the Borderless anthology, Monalisa No Longer Smiles

Click here to access Monalisa No Longer Smiles on Kindle Amazon International