Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

By the Grave by Lee Si-young (1949- )

Spring flowers were brutally snapped,
and the aggressor’s footsteps
by the grave make me giddy.
Friend, don’t sleep yet.
In our blood-shot eyes
your death is vividly alive–
you who threw a knife toward the enemy that dawn.

무덤가에서/ 이시영

봄의 꽃들은 무참히 꺾이고
무덤가엔 침략자들의 발자국이 어지럽다
친구여 아직은 잠들지 말아라
우리들의 핏빛 눈동자에
그날 새벽의 적을 향해 외로이 칼을 꽂던
너의 죽음은 생생히 살아 있다

Lee Si-young (1949- ) was born in Gurye, Jeollanamdo. He studied creative writing at Seorabeol College of Arts. Since his literary debut in 1969, he published poetry collections such as The Full Moon (1976), Into the Wind (1986), Friend, the Road Is Far (1988), The Song Dangled with Dew (1991), The Pattern (1994), The Gap (1996), The Quiet Blue Sky(1997), The Silver Whistle (2003), The Sea Lake (2004), The Fragrance of Cow Dung(2005), and For the Dead of Ours (2007). He received many literary awards, including The Jung Ji-yong Literary Award (1996), The Dongseo Literary Award (1998), Modern Buddhist Literary Award (2004), The Jihoon Award (2004), The Baeksok Literary Award (2004). In a recent interview, he said “I have written poetry, resisting the reality and contradiction of the day.” He currently teaches creative writing at Dankuk University in Seoul.