Cheju Island, tr. by James Kimbrell and Yu Jung-Yul

HAHM DONG-SEON

CHEJU ISLAND

Sajebi Hill

Travelling over the long ages

And never forgetting how thick old Chu-Sa's hair grew

in his island prison,

The grandmother of the mountain was turned into a tree

rooted in a pot.

When the dark that draws around the island's peaks and

slopes

Is stepped into, when it gives off the muffled crunch of

snow underfoot,

The island can not drift toward sleep, not with all that

noise

And the work of oars rowing in another banished man,

And the racket of prisoners turning pages in their books.

The place of exile

Floats freely in water,

Wind at the helm.

Structure

19 lines · 4 stanzas