POEM BY LEE, DO YEON (SOUTH KOREA)

POEM BY LEE, DO YEON (SOUTH KOREA)

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.

HYDRANGEAS

Summer with its scorching sun,

Taejongsa Temple's hydrangeas bloom in vibrant pink and blue hues.

Was youth akin to this?

The resplendent sight of hydrangeas mirrored in a pond,

Another vestige seeping into the water.

My countenance mirrors the joy of a hydrangea child

Amidst the bustling crowd.

Under the faint sunlight of the sweltering summer,

I fall in love with the abundant beauty of hydrangeas.

Forgetting the heat momentarily,

I traverse the path of youthful hydrangeas that bloom every year,

Carrying my spirit along.

IN THAT PLACE

Sea water bluer than the sky

The white foam is like tickling a rocky island.

The sea is bruised from being beaten so much

The sea gently brushes against the rocks and recedes.

Without showing whether I like it or not

 Round, round, bouncy rock

The rock is in silent mode day and night

Even if the waves come calmly

Even if I hit the rock hard on the face

The rock is shy boy and has no words.

Don’t be bored all day long

Rocks are grateful to be played with.

Whenever you’re having a hard time, hit a rock or something and play.

The rock doesn’t even raise its head

A thousand years of lying flat

As long as there is no tectonic shift

The rock is always there

With built-in closet

The rock will wait for you

DROOPING PLUM BLOSSOM

I fell in love with S-Line’s charm

I asked your name

drooping plum blossoms

It’s still winter

There are buds on the branches

To deliver spring news

A lot of time has passed since the first snow

Flower buds try to see the world first

Even if you just lightly touch the flower bud,

Looks like it’s about to explode

I look forward to it like a child’s laughter

When I think of seeing the beautiful flowers on each drooping branch,

I miss it like seeing a loved one.