Translated by Chae-Pyong Song

Painted by Kim Seon-soo

Flowers by Chung Ho-seung

I pull out the nails driven into the heart
and plant flowers in that place;
I pull up the stake driven into the heart
and plant flowers in that place.
If flowers were people’s tears
how beautiful would humans be?
If flowers were people’s dreams
how beautiful would humans be?

꽃/ 정호승

마음속에 박힌 못을 뽑아
그 자리에 꽃을 심는다
마음속에 박힌 말뚝을 뽑아
그 자리에 꽃을 심는다
꽃이 인간의 눈물이라면
인간은 그 얼마나 아름다운가
꽃이 인간의 꿈이라면
인간은 그 얼마나 아름다운가

(Darcy Brandel and Anne Rashid read the earlier versions of this translation.)

Chung Ho-seung was born in 1950, in Hadong, Gyongsangnam-do. Since his debut in 1972 with a poem featured in the Korea Daily News, Chung has published many poetry collections, such asFrom Sorrow to Happiness, Jesus of Seoul, and Dawn Letter, which has achieved both critical acclaim and mass appeal. His minimal verse style interweaves the everday and the fantastic, proposing the possibility of lyrical revelation in even the most prosaic encounters.