Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Darcy L. Brandel

Photography by Lee Sang-youp

A Time Existed by Choe Seung-ja

A time existed
A desert existed

In the middle of the desert I was alone
Wind blew above in the sky
and I was hungry and sad

Somewhere a river flowed
(but the sea did not overflow)

Somewhere the sky passed
(but time did not stop)

A time existed

A desert existed

한 세월이 있었다

한 세월이 있었다
한 사막이 있었다

그 사막 한가운데서 나 혼자였었다
하늘 위로 바람이 불어가고
나는 배고팠고 슬펐다

어디선가 한 강물이 흘러갔고
(그러나 바다는 넘치지 않았고)

어디선가 한 하늘이 흘러갔고
(그러나 시간은 멈추지 않았고)

한 세월이 있었다

한 사막이 있었다

Choe Seung-ja (1952- ) was born in Yongi, Chungcheongnam-do. She studied German literature at Korea University. Her poetry collections include Love in This Age, A Pleasant Diary, The House of Memory, My Grave—Green, Lovers, and Forlorn and Faraway. Often employing extreme, radical language and imagery, she writes to resist social discrimination, especially patriarchy.