Winter’s Dance 

Kwak Je-gu

Before the first snow falls,

I must mend the memory window.

Brushing off the dust of despair and sorrow

piling up during the past seasons,

I must drive a new nail of waiting

into the edge of the creaking window frame.

I must take down the old curtain

hung without meaning,

light a small kerosene lamp

that won’t go out even in below-zero cutting wind,

and learn winter’s cold and shining dance.

The world is a lovely place depending how you look at it—

a place that dreams of the progress of a new world

where passionate love, labor, revolution, and touching go together.

Winter is rather warm if you embrace it.

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

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

겨울의 춤

곽재구

첫눈이 오기 전에

추억의 창문을 손질해야겠다.

지난 계절 쌓인 허무와 슬픔

먼지처럼 훌훌 털어내고

삐걱이는 창틀 가장자리에

기다림의 새 못을 쳐야겠다.

무의미하게 드리워진

낡은 커튼을 걷어내고

영하의 칼바람에도 스러지지 않는

작은 호롱불 하나 밝혀두어야겠다.

그리고… 차갑고도 빛나는 겨울의 춤을 익혀야겠다.

바라보면 세상은 아름다운 곳

뜨거운 사랑과 노동과 혁명과 감동이

함께 어울려 새 세상의 진보를 꿈꾸는 곳

끌어안으면 겨울은 오히려 따뜻한 것

 Kwak Je-gu (곽재구) was born in Gwangju in 1954. He studied Korean literature at Chonnam National University. He made his literary debut as a poet with “At Sapyung Station,” which won the Spring literary award organized by the Joongang Daily in 1982. From 1981 to 1987, he worked as a member of “May Poetry,” a group of creative writers deeply inspired by the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. His poetry collections include At Sapyung Station, Jeonjang-po Arirng, Korean Lovers, A Song of Seoul and The Clear Current. He currently teaches creative writing at Suncheon National University. In 1996, he received the Dongseo Literary Award.