A Silk Tree's Charm^*

By Park Ju Il

Translated by Rodney E. Tyson & Hong Eun-Taek

The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism, 4(3), p. 213. Fall 2001.

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In April
At night
With red stamina beside me
We were
In each other's shade.
Now I
Follow you into your white flesh
At last,
I meet your throbbing heart
And on my way back
I lean on memory's Palmandaejangkyeong^** for a little while
And come back
How is it that you do it every night
At night without fail
Close to the pain of your folding leaves
Tonight also I
Walk a thousand li.
 

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^*The silk tree is a tree which folds its leaves at night. According to the poet, its "throbbing heart" is the language of flowers.
^**Palmandaejangkyeong is the complete collection of Buddhist sutras, laws, and treatises engraved on blocks made of wood from the silk tree.

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The Quarterly Review: Poetry & Criticism | Curriculum Vitae