Poems of Kwak Hyeran (South Korea)

Poetess Ms. Kwak Hyeran is also active as an essayist and literary critic, and serves as the publisher of MUNHAKVATANG, a monthly literary magazine. She earned a master’s degree in Korean Language and Literature from the Graduate School of Konkuk University and completed the doctoral program at the same university.

Throughout her career, she has served in a number of important positions in the Korean literary and publishing communities, including as a member of the First Advisory Committee for Periodicals of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, an editorial board member of the 26th term of the Korean Writers’ Association, Director of the Magazine Museum, and Senior Vice President of the Korea Magazine Association.

As a poet, she has published five poetry collections, including Family Is a Miracle, as well as an essay collection, People Are Flowers, Relationships Are Flowers.

Her accomplishments have been recognized with several distinguished awards and commendations, including a Ministerial Commendation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2008, the Hallyu Cultural Contribution Grand Award presented by the National Assembly’s Committee on Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2017, a Ministerial Commendation from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2022, and a Presidential Commendation in 2022.

THREE-COLOR TRAFFIC LIGHT

Kwak Hyeran

I wish there were a three-color traffic light in my life,

so I could move forward with confidence when it is time to go,

stop firmly when I should not go,

and wait patiently when it is time to wait.

THE PATH TO SILENCE

Kwak Hyeran

Only after passing through silence

can I finally be embraced by stillness.

When the cries and whispers that once pierced my ears

have faded into the distance,

stillness, at last, becomes a mirror that reflects me.

Through immeasurable, countless ages, without a trace of restlessness,

it flows like water.

Silence is quiet, but it is not emptiness

it is the birthplace of sound,

the pulse of the sea.

There are things that can be known only in stillness.

Just as a river must come to a halt to measure the depth within itself,

there are things, like stars in the darkness,

that can only be seen when we seek them.

STARTING UP AGAIN

Kwak Hyeran

Sometimes the car starts, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Today, it would not start at all.

I replaced the battery, 

and the car ran smoothly again, as if nothing had ever happened.

The car had come back to life.

If only people, when they can no longer start,

had a battery that could be replaced,

the sorrow in this world would be cut in half, and so would the tears.

Though I have known the sorrow of losing someone dear to me forever

I often lose sight of the quiet wonder of everyday life.

But each morning, when a new day dawns and life begins anew,

I turn the key and set my life in motion again.