일고 지는 바람 따라 청매(靑梅) 꽃잎이
눈처럼 내리다 말다 했다.
바람이 바뀌면
돌들이 드러나 생각에 잠겨 있는
흙담으로 쏠리기도 했다.
‘꽃 지는 소리가 왜 이리 고요하지?’
꽃잎을 어깨로 맞고 있던 불타의 말에 예수가 답했다.
‘고요도 소리의 집합 가운데 하나가 아니겠는가?
꽃이 울며 지기를 바라시는가,
왁자지껄 웃으며 지길 바라시는가?’
‘노래하며 질 수도….’
‘그렇지 않아도 막 노래하고 있는 참인데.’
말없이 귀 기울이던 불타가 중얼거렸다.
‘음, 후렴이 아닌데!’
HWANG Tong gyu (b. 1938) was born in Seoul, studied and taught English Literature at Seoul National University. His poetry collections include A Clear Day (1961), Snow Falling in Samnam (1975), When I See a Wheel, I Want to Make It Roll (1978), A Journey to Morundae (1991), Wind Burial (1995), A Love Song, Berkeley Style (2000), There Was the Moments When I Depended on Coincidence (2003), Silence of Flowers (2006) and 00:05, Winter Night (2009). He is the recipient of numerous honors, including Korean Literature Award (1980), Isan Literature Prize (1991), and Midang Literature Prize (2002), etc. His poetry, describing new awareness attained in the process of continual opening to the outer world and sincere conversation with the self, has always invited readers to participate in the process of awakening.
