Poems of Im Sol Nae (South Korea)

Poetess Ms. Im Sol Nae

Poetess Im Sol Nae has continued her active literary career since making her debut through the monthly literary magazine JayuMunhak in 1999. She has published six collections of poetry, including The QR Code of a Leaf, Amazon, That Transit Station, The Cry of an Awakened Amazon, Hong Nyeo, and many others. In addition to her literary achievements, she has gained wide recognition as a professional poetry reciter at numerous national events organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Her major appearances include Memorial Day commemorations, Righteous Army Day (June 1), the opening poetry recital for the Seoul City Hall Stream Project at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, the annual commemorative ceremony at Injeongjeon Hall of Changdeokgung Palace hosted by the Korean Imperial Household Culture Foundation, and the 120th memorial ceremony for Empress Myeongseong held at her birthplace. She also founded the Korean Federation of Poetry Recitation Associations to broaden the cultural foundation of poetry recitation in Korea.
In 2011, she traveled for twenty-five days along the Tea Horse Road with avant-garde artists from around the world, drawing profound artistic inspiration from the journey. Poems inspired by this experience were later transformed into various musical genres, including jazz, traditional Korean vocal music, classical singing, and Korean art songs, and were presented through the Tea Horse Road Concert.
Her literary and artistic accomplishments have been recognized through numerous honors, including the Yeongnang Literary Award, the Korean Literary Critics Association Award, the Lyric Poetry Literary Award, the 22nd Poet’s Poet Award, selection as a Sejong Excellent Book in 2014, and the 8th Buddhist Literary Writers’ Award.
Poet Im Sol Nae is regarded as one of the leading artistic poets in contemporary Korea, expanding the boundaries of modern Korean poetry through her innovative fusion of poetry, recitation, music, and performance art. She currently serves as a World Ambassador of the International Academy of Ethics.
Her representative works, including “Metamorphosis (羽化),” “Blue Butterfly,” “Becoming Godmother of Victoria,” “The Fireflies’ Shawshank Redemption,” “Three Souls,” “The Scarlet Light Universe” and “Sumbi Sori (Breath of the woman Diver)” have been translated and introduced in many countries around the world, including the United States, Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, India, Nepal, Albania, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, and Jordan.
 
 
Within Me
 
To let another person dwell within me—
to have a river called you flowing through my soul;
to know that, day after day, a mountain, lush with life,
is growing within me.
"Let us live well." "Let us live well."
Again and again, it speaks to me.
Abundant,
sheltering,
and immeasurably distant.
 
To live is also to endure.
When I cradle your cold hand within me,
tears I cannot even let fall gather in silence.
A heart too burdened to take out and show,
I gently lay it
upon the pure table of life.
 
That dim and distant dwelling—
there is no comfort I can offer.
I can neither forget nor let go,
knowing I, too, shall become such a memory.
 
And yet,
whenever I read the letter called you,
tears come of their own accord.
 

 
 
Persimmon
 
Until the magpie's beak
reaches deep into its flesh,
that light speaks to me with a single sentence.
 
When, will I ever touch that lantern-colored radiance?
 
 
 
Ah, Tibet
 
Those who offer their bodies to the road.
Across the Lhasa Basin,
they braid tarcho prayer flags
and hang them at every gateway—
blue, white, yellow, red, and green,
gathering sky and cloud,
earth and fire, water,
and suspending them in the open air.
Those who offer their bodies to the road.
Beyond the Potala Palace,
what presence abides?
Beyond the incense smoke,
its loosened hair rising skyward,
what presence abides?
What is it that makes them inscribe a life of suffering?
In a land where even oxygen is sparse, a traveler, breathless.
Upon the soil of Lhasa, which has risen with fearless strength
from the deepest sea to the very heavens,
I gently press my forehead,
moistened with reverence, against the earth.
 
 

©®Im Sol Nae