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5.13.15: Yoon Dong-joo's "A Poem That Came Easily" (1942)

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    101096

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    "A Poem That Came Easily"

    The night rain whispers outside the window

    of my six-mat room, in an alien country.

    The poet has a sad vocation, I know:

    should I write another line of poetry?

    Having received my tuition from home in an envelope 5

    soaked with the small of sweat and love,

    I tuck my college notebook under my arm

    and go off to listen to the lecture of an old professor.

    Looking back, I see that I have lost my childhood friends:

    one and two at a time—all of them. 10

    What was it that I was hoping for,

    and why am I simply sinking to the bottom alone?

    Life is meant to be difficult:

    it is too bad

    that a poem comes so easily to me. 15

    My six-mat room in an alien country:

    The night rain whispers outside the window.

    I light the lamp to drive out the darkness a little,

    and I, in my last moments, wait for the morning,

    which will come like a new era. 20

    Extending a small hand to myself,

    I offer myself the very first handshake,

    tears, and condolences.

    June 3, 1942

    Contributors

    This page titled 5.13.15: Yoon Dong-joo's "A Poem That Came Easily" (1942) is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Heather Ringo & Athena Kashyap (ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative) .