Never forget

Never forget
the barren mountain which revived last spring
with waves of red azaleas
bursting from rows of snow
behind the rising hills of
the sky.

Never forget
the roaring waterfall
and the strong young bamboo

emerging from its center.

After having been taken away in chains,
after the long, long ordeal has ended—
long after everyone has forgotten all about it—
I suddenly feel again at my side
the presence of friends.

KIM Chi-ha, South Korea (1941)

English version by Germain Droogenbroodt & Stanley Barkan