4 Poems by Chung Ho-seung

Those Who I Love

I do not love those who do not have their shades.
I do not love those who do not love their shades.
I do love those who become  the shade of the tree.
The sunlight is bright because it has its shade.
Sitting in the shade of a tree, I see the sunshine coming through the leaves.
How beautiful the world is!

I do not love those who don't have their tears.
I do not love those who do not love tears.
Pleasure is not pleasure if it does not have tears.
Sitting in the shade,
I see those who clean someone's tears.
How beautiful the world is!


Song of Farewell

You are leaving me.
If you can postpone your departure just a bit,
It will not be that late, because I love you.

Then, I will go first to the destination where you are heading
and become the sunset glow on your back from there.

I will adjust my outfit and will be a star singing for you
In the darkness when the darkness creeps into the village.

You are leaving me.
If you can postpone your departure just a bit,
It will not be that late, because I love you.


About the Bottom

Only those who went down to the bottom can tell that the bottom was invisible.
They just say that they walked to the bottom and
That those who walked to the bottom could return.

Only those who rise up from the bottom can say that they could not reach farther than the bottom[MA1] --,
Therefore, they just  are rising from the bottom.[MA2]

Only those who return from the bottom of the floor can say that there are no more bottoms
And that the bottom is invisible,
Therefore, they just are rising  from the bottom.


Broken into Pieces

The earthen Buddha
I bought as a souvenir at Lumbini*
Fell down to the floor,
Broken into pieces.

Arms are broken into pieces,
Legs are broken into pieces,
Throat is broken into pieces, and
Toes are broken into pieces.

I knelt down to find  instant glue from the drawer
To put the pieces together.

Then, Buddha touched my head.
He who was trying to put the pieces together
Comforted me:
“Once broken, you would live in a broken shape.
as it is.”

 *Lumbini: the birthplace of the Lord Buddha in Nepal.

The above four poems are translated by Dr. Yearn Hong Choi, the founding president of Korean Poets Group in the United States

Bionote 

Chung Ho-seung is one of most famed Korean poets in Korea. He is visiting Washington and is going to read his poems and talks about his life and poetry at the Korean Cultural Center on March 20, 2015.