Day and Night
Like the wind passing through the leaves,
so you pass through my mind.
Like a bird sleeping in a tree,
so you sleep in my mind.
***
Woman
An erupting volcano
A sealed universe
A continuously flowing stream
An unforgiving heaven
A treacherous marsh
A sky thrown open
The term of all longing
The sign for all craving
Palace of secrets
Erupting eternity
Fertile desire
Mystery never solved.
Cho Byung-hwa, Korea (1921–2003)
From “Selected Poems”
Translation by Kevin O’Rourke – Germain Droogenbroodt – Stanley Barkan
