Επιμέλεια: Εύα Πετροπούλου Λιανού
The magician, who cut off a rhinoceros’s horn and wore it on his head,
Borrowed a penguin’s wings to caress the texture of a green apple.
Click, he opens the door to the heart and steps inside.
Cut in half the time you have experienced and tap on its flank.
Dress each and every seed with imagination.
Lift the shade, as if invisible hours are opening their eyes one by one.
Pay heed to the mesmerizing silhouette from behind, and the tears in between.
The desert wind blows in, carving away the walls of the mind.
An occasional, unexpected intent—the hunger grows desperate.
Causing a stir at the center of life, the fallen apple’s shoulders tremble.
The magician secretly, stealthily covets
Dali’s art book hidden inside his hat.
On days when his neck stiffens from trying to soothe colliding tendons,
He stands Gala from the drawer upon a plate.
Shall we stir the hardening spring water with the rhinoceros’s horn?
Shall we borrow the magician’s hat and wear it for just ten months?
Who knows? On the first day of the New Year, in a major daily newspaper,
We might just read the smile of a ripe, red apple.
마술사는 모자를 쓰고
연명지
코뿔소의 뿔을 잘라 머리에 쓴 마술사
펭귄의 날개를 빌려와 풋 사과의 결을 매만지다
딸깍, 심장의 문을 열고 들어가
경험한 시간의 반을 잘라 측면을 두드려보세요
씨앗 하나 하나에 상상력을 입혀주세요
보이지 않는 시간이 하나 둘 눈 뜨듯이 그늘을 들어 올리세요
매혹적인 뒷태와 사이의 눈물에 유념하세요
사막의 바람이 불어와 마음의 벽을 깎아낸다
간간이 허를 찌르는 의도, 허기가 간절해진다
삶의 중심에서 소동을 부리다 떨어진 사과의 어깨가 떨린다
마술사는 몰래몰래 모자안에 숨겨논
달리의 화집에 눈독을 들여요
충돌하는 힘줄들을 말리느라 뒷골이 당기는 날에는
서랍 속 갈라를 접시위에 세우지요
코뿔소의 뿔로 굳어가는 샘물을 저어볼까요
마술사의 모자를 빌려와 열 달만 써볼까요
혹시 알아요 신년 첫날 중앙 일간지에
빨갛게 익은 사과의 미소를 읽을 수도
Profile
Poet Yeon Myeong-ji began her literary career in 2013 with the poetry collection 『Gashibi』, published in the Minerva Poetry Series.
Her published works include the poetry collections 『Sitting Like an Apple』 and 『Where would the House of the Sorry’ be? 』 the e-poetry collection 『Seventeen Marco Polos,』 and the travel essay 『Step by Step, Walking the Camino.』
She has received the Tolstoy Literary Award, the Homi Literary Award, the Cheongsong Gaekju Literary Award, and the Aviation Literary Award. In 2025, she was awarded the Bronze Prize in Poetry at the Literature Asia Awards.
Her poems have been translated and published in local languages in India, Pakistan, Kosovo, Italy, Egypt, the United States, and Belgium, Greece, UK,and Iraq.
