오래된 書籍 (Old Book)

29 June 2011
내가 살아온 것은 거의
기적적이었다
오랫동안 나는 곰팡이 피어
나는 어둡고 축축한 세계에서
아무도 들여다보지 않는 질서

속에서, 텅 빈 희망 속에서
어찌 스스로의 일생을 예언할 수 있겠는가
다른 사람들은 분주히
몇몇 안 되는 내용을 가지고 서로의 기능을
넘겨보며 書標를 꽂기도 한다
또 어떤 이는 너무 쉽게 살았다고
말한다, 좀 더 두꺼운 추억이 필요하다는

사실, 완전을 위해서라면 두께가
문제겠는가? 나는 여러 번 장소를 옮기며 살았지만
죽음은 생각도 못했다, 나의 경력은
출생뿐이었으므로, 왜냐하면
두려움이 나의 속성이며
미래가 나의 과거이므로
나는 존재하는 것, 그러므로
용기란 얼마나 무책임한 것인가, 보라

나를
한 번이라도 본 사람은 모두
나를 떠나갔다, 나의 영혼은
검은 페이지가 대부분이다, 그러니 누가 나를
펼쳐볼 것인가, 하지만 그 경우
그들은 거짓을 논할 자격이 없다
거짓과 참됨은 모두 하나의 목적을
꿈꾸어야 한다, 단
한 줄일 수도 있다

나는 기적을 믿지 않는다

It’s close to a miracle
that I’ve lived
I was moldy for what seemed an eternity
How can I predict my own life
in a damp dark world

in an order where no one bothers to look at me,
in empty hope?
Other people hurriedly take a few contents
and coveting one another’s functions
insert their bookmarks into me
Others say my life has been too easy
that I need thicker memories

Is thickness truly a problem when perfection is your goal?
I’ve moved several times, lived in different places,
but never paid a thought to death. My career
lies only in my birth. Why?
Because fear is a part of me
and because the future is my past
The fact that I exist, so
see there, what an irresponsible thing courage

Every person who ever looked at me once
left me, my soul
is mostly dark pages, who will ever open me?
But in that case they have no right to discourse on lies
Lies and truth must dream the same objective
and they can be found in the exact same line

I don’t believe in miracles

 
 

English translation by Gabriel Sylvian

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Gi Hyeongdo

About Gi Hyeongdo


Gi Hyeongdo was born in 1960 in Gyeonggi Province, Korea. He began publishing poems during his college years at Yonsei University, where he majored in Political Diplomacy. He received the Yun Dongju Literary Prize as a university student. While working as a reporter for the Jungang Ilbo in 1984, he began publishing poems marked by powerful individuality and “an intensely pessimistic world view”. His formal debut was the New Year’s Poetry Contest sponsored by the Donga Ilbo for his celebrated poem FOG (Angae). On March 7, 1989, he died of apoplexy seizure at a late-night theatre in Jongro. Collections include BLACK LEAF IN MY MOUTH (1989, published posthumously), a collection of prose writings entitled RECORDS OF SHORT JOURNEYS (1990), and his COMPLETE WORKS (1999).

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