감꽃

김준태

어릴 적엔 떨어지는 감꽃을 셌지

전쟁통엔 죽은 병사들의 머리를 세고

지금은 엄지에 침 발라 돈을 세지

그런데 먼 훗날엔 무엇을 셀까 몰라.

 사진: 김관중

Persimmon Flowers 

Kim Jun-tae

When I was young, I counted the falling persimmon flowers.

During the war, I counted the heads of the soldiers.

Now I count money, with spit on my thumb,

and wonder what I will count in the distant future.

(Originally published in Gwangju News, June, 2012)

*Translated by Dr. Chae-Pyong (“J.P.”) Song 송재평 교수 & Annie Rashid

Korean Poetry in Translation  https://jaypsong.wordpress.com

 김준태(1948- )

전라남도 해남에서 태어나 1969년 조선대학교 독문과 재학 중 '시인'지에 '시작을 그렇게 하면 되나' 등으로 문단 데뷔. 전남일보 신춘문예에 '참깨를 털면서'로 당선. 전남고등학교, 신북중학교 교사, 광주매일 편집국 부국장, 광주매일신문 문화부장, 조선대학교 초빙교수를 지냈다. 전남고교 교사 시절 1980년 광주민주화운동의 참상을 소재로 한 시를 출간해 강제 해직당했다. 시집으로 '참깨를 털면서', '나는 하느님을 보았다', '국밥과 희망', '불이냐 꽃이냐', '칼과 흙', '밭詩', '달팽이 뿔', 영역시집 'Gwangju, Cross of Our Nation', 세계문학 기행집 '세계문학의 거장을 만나다', 남과 북ㆍ해외동포 시인들의 통일시에 해설을 붙인 '백두산아 훨훨 날아라'를 썼다.

Kim Jun-tae (1949- ) was born in Haenam, Jeollanamdo. He studied German literature at Chosun University. He made his literary debut in 1969 with the publication of “Thrashing the Sesame” and other poems in The Poet. His poetry collections include Thrashing the Sesame, I Saw God, The Rice Soup and Hope, Fire or Flower?, and Sword and Soil. He is known as the progressive poet of “Oh, Gwangju! The Cross of Our Nation!,” a poem about the Gwangju Uprising he published on June 2, 1980, in The Chonnam Daily. With the publication of this poem, the newspaper was forced to shut down, and he was laid off from his teaching at Chonnam High School. This poem has been acclaimed as the first poem that addressed the uprising. He is a protest poet committed to writing about ruined hometowns, national liberation, and the decolonization of culture.