Sobering Up in the Morning at Seoul Station By Ko Hyung Lyul
Translated by Rodney E. Tyson & Hong Eun-Taek
The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism, 3(3), p. 170. Fall 2000.
No civilizations can rise with those morning sunbeams
All are rags squirming behind them
To renew and to precedeHowever, those are exhausting things. No matter how bright
A civilization's dream may be, it cannot be better than a fallen leaf
No matter how close ten years, a hundred years may comeIt cannot match a secluded mountain village shining in the moonlight
Sobering up in the morning sunbeams at Seoul Station
I say, You are so sad and beautifulNo microchip can match that leaf's secret
No scientific truth can be as sacred as death
Ah, these lovely ones, my sunbeams!
The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism | Curriculum Vitae