Poems of Yang Geum-Hee (South Korea)

Poetess  Ms. Yang Geum-Hee

Poet Ms. Yang Geum-Hee is a distinguished Korean poet, literary activist, and cultural leader from Jeju Island, South Korea. Since her literary debut in Simunhak (Poetry Literature Monthly), she has made significant contributions to the development of contemporary Korean literature and the promotion of international literary exchange. She served as the second President of the Korean Association of World Literature and as President of Jeju PEN.
A member of the Consortium of Distinguished Scholars of the International Academy of Ethics, Vice Director of Culture and Arts at the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation, and an honorary doctorate recipient, Yang Geum-Hee has dedicated her career to advancing literature, peace, ethics, and intercultural dialogue. Her poetry has been translated into numerous languages and widely published in literary journals and anthologies throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Her major publications include the poetry collections Happiness Account, Ieodo: The Island of Legend and Existence, Nests of Birds (Taiwan edition), and the bilingual English–Korean edition of Nests of Birds. She is also the author of the essay collection Happy Companion and the translator of PREKAZ: Legacy of the Brave – He Lives On.
Among her many distinctions, she was selected for PRIZES 2025: The International Best Poets & Translators and was named one of the 100 Most Influential Literary Figures of 2025 by Barcelona Magazine, a prestigious literary publication issued in Spain and the United States. She was also awarded Kazakhstan’s international order “Kazakhstan 560 Years” and received the 2025 Grand Prize for Culture and Arts. In 2026, she was honored with the Dr. José Manuel Equihua Estrella International Literary Prize, presented by the Greece Chapter of CCI Universal Poetic Utopia, headquartered in Mexico, and was also a recipient of the Naji Naaman Merit Prize for Literature.
Widely recognized as a global literary voice, Yang Geum-Hee continues to build bridges between cultures through poetry, translation, and international literary cooperation.
 
 
 
The Bell of Peace
 
Over rugged mountains and storm-tossed seas,
that have been soothed and crossed through night’s long vigil,
there comes at dawn a bell of lucid sound—
clear as first light upon the waking hills.
 
And when it slips into divided tongues,
and into doors once sealed upon the heart,
the dove ascends in sudden rapture, free,
as though the world were newly born in air.
 
Where hands are warmer than the forge of conflict,
and understanding deeper than old grief,
that bell which yearns for peace among the world
becomes a rampart guarding human souls.
 
It lingers in the laughter of a child,
pure as water flowing through untouched fields;
it breathes within the dreams the young will not abandon;
and in the furrows of the aged face
it whispers how far a life may travel still.
 
 
 
 
 
The Wind Does Not Linger
 
 
The wind,
to the nameless little flowers in the field,
and to the old trees, deep-rooted in time,
draws near with the same breath,
gently stirring them,
softly caressing them.
 
Beneath the warm sunlight,
amid the thunder of war’s fierce guns,
by the lakeshore where peace lies quietly asleep,
among the fragrant blossoms—
the wind does not linger.
 
Simply, in freedom,
it follows its own path.
Some long for the wind,
while others fear the storm.
Yet the wind does not linger—
it only casts off longing and fear
and goes its own way.
 
 
 
Fruit Diary
 
To eat a single, well-ripened fruit
is to receive a rounded universe within myself.
 
From a small seed,
awakening in the dark of the soil,
reaching quietly toward the light,
until at last it gathers into a full, round fruit—
 
the earth must have offered its back in silence,
and the rain, deep at the roots,
must have whispered courage.
 
Fragile beings,
becoming one another’s sunlight,
one another’s rain,
one another’s soil,
have tended the young life—
fearing even the smallest wound,
keeping watch with anxious hearts,
enduring long days together
so it might ripen more perfectly, more whole.
 
And someone, at last,
not wishing to harm that rounded life,
must have gathered it gently
with careful hands.
 
That circle of care
has now come to me.
Within me, it becomes another quiet universe.
 
And so, today,
in the small field of my heart,
I plant once more
a single, rounded seed.
 
 ©®Yang Geum-Hee