Damn it!
Walking Sticks
On the grounds of Buseok-sa temple in Yeongju, Sobaek Mountain,
there is a tree that grew
from a walking stick
planted by the great monk Uisang.
In Songgwang-sa temple in Suncheon, South Jeolla,
there is a tree that grew
from a walking stick
planted by the deeply revered monk Bojo, of the Goryeo dynasty.
The trees have lived long lives,
two thousand years,
one thousand years.
Nearer us, there’s a maple tree on Jungdae peak of Odae-san
that grew from a stick the Venerable Hanam
rested on
then planted.
It put out leaves and branches,
the leaves turning red in autumn.
One poet during the Yushin period in the 1970s,
sat beneath such walking stick trees
on Odae-san’s Jungdae
and in Jogye Mountain’s Songgwang-sa temple
while confined there by the intelligence agency.
Before him sat the elderly police detective, his keeper,
who said: ‘Well, thanks to you
I’m enjoying life as a mountain hermit,
the cicadas singing by day,
the Scops owl by night.’
Replied the poet:
‘Hey, since you walk about
with a stick,
you should plant it when you leave.
Who knows?’
The Yu Brothers, Grave Robbers
The world is so full of robbers
that there is no rest
even for graves.
Come to think of it,
surely a poet is a robber of birdsong,
robber of the sound of streams,
of the colour of flowers, of willow leaves.
A robber who dug up graves
was known in days past as a ‘grave-digging thief’,
writ using difficult Chinese characters
by those sporting a nobleman’s hat and gown.
The graves of rich families’ ancestors
were laid out ceremoniously, following ancient rules,
so when they were dug up,
those graves of great-great-grand parents,
of great-grandparents,
of grandfather,
of grandmother –
even if they held no treasures –
when told that a skull or bones had been dug up,
the family had to produce a wad of money,
as much as the robbers asked,
to get back the sacred remains.
Those descended from the nobility, from the yangban class,
understood well how yangban worshipped their ancestors.
They were themselves the robbers
of the grave sites.
The robber brothers, Yu Seung-ok and Yu Guk-hyeon,
were direct descendants from yangban
who had been expert at digging up graves.
By day they had looked most fine,
their way of clearing their throats had great dignity.
When a ripe watermelon is cut open
it is red and dignified.
The French robbers who in times past
dug up the grave of Prince Namyeon,
they must have looked fine too.
A Police Spy
The Writers’ Council for the Practice of Freedom
had no office,
so if the chairman was walking along a street,
that street was the office,
the bar where the secretary was sitting was the office.
It was the second dissident group
that the Park Jung-hee government decided to eliminate.
When they got together in a bar
outwardly it might have looked as if they were enjoying a drink,
but secretly
they were discussing a rally or a declaration on the situation
they planned to issue a few days later.
Eom Ok-nam
was sure to appear at every such gathering,
saying he admired writers with such upright minds.
At times he would pay for a third round of drinks,
contribute some bulgogi,
even buy the chairman a new suit.
That tall Eom Ok-nam with large whites to his eyes
was a police agent who reported every detail
to the CIA headquarters on Mount Namsan.
He only pretended to be a fan of the writers.
Later it was learned
he was separated from his wife,
had been kicked out
after extorting money from his wife’s family.
When he went to the bath house
he would come out four hours later,
saying:
‘Ah, I feel better now.’
Little Ham Seok-heon’s Teacher
When Ham Seok-heon was a child
at a village school in Yongdangpo, North Pyeongan province,
the teacher of the calligraphy class
took great care of the students,
stooping over them
as they wrote one character after another.
His students also had to learn
to grind the ink steadily
and hold the brush firmly.
He would snatch the brush from an awkward student’s hand.
Grabbing the boy’s hand from behind, he would say:
‘You little brat,
how will you make your writing strong
if you hold your brush as weakly as that?
‘Japanese writing may be pretty,
but our writing must above all be strong.’
Jeong Jeom’s Grandmother
Something like a mass of red-bean gruel
hangs dangling,
off almost the whole left side of her face.
It looks as if gruel boiled up
for some time
before stopping where it did.
Seen one way, it is gruel,
another, a human face.
Luckily or unluckily,
the eye and eyebrow on the right side are attractive.
Notwithstanding,
during her lifetime
she had a husband,
gave birth to sons and daughters,
and now her grandchildren run away from her.
Jeong Jeom’s grandmother with her red-bean gruel
wears double-decker gold rings,
two, in case one might seem insufficient,
on her quite swollen finger.
Not only her face: her finger too is weighed down.
Two Singers
They never made a hit.
But though they would never be famous
they were people who just loved singing,
regardless of the season, spring or autumn
Among those singers,
was a sensible girl.
who lived near the bank of Wansan stream on Omokdae Hill in Jeonju.
Having heard of her
somehow or other,
a middle-aged singer came to visit
from Geumgu in Gimje at the foot of Moak Mountain
His traditional jade-green coat and white rubber slippers were gorgeous.
Bowing politely, he said:
‘I have come to hear your unusual voice.’
The young girl greeted him just as politely.
Then the girl and the man
spread a rush mat on Omokdae Hill,
brought out drum and fan,
tested the drum. They worried
the drum’s leather had grown slack because of the weather
or its strength been sapped for lack of use.