On a Wandering Day

A translation of Kim So-Yeop’s poem “떠도는 날에”

One day, unbeknownst to me,

a thief slipped inside,

stole my heart,*

and ran away. 

In search of my lost treasure

I wander for ten years, 

until on the tip of a naked twig I meet the sun,

then turn back home.

I break the rusted lock

and enter my room:

for ten years my heart, now rusted too,

lay waiting unharmed in the dust.

* “heart”, line 3: the word “마음” can translate as both heart and mind.

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While it seems simplistic at first, the poem is an allegory of enlightenment (satori). Upon an encounter with the Sun, the speaker realises that the thing she thought was lost were actually always there, inside, if only she had looked. The lost "heart" symbolizes the lost center, but also ignorance, for "heart" also suggests the mind in Korean. Finding her heart implies finding spiritual understanding (satori, #깨달음).

Original Poem:

<떠도는 날에>

 

언젠가 나도 몰래
도둑이 들어
내 마음 모두들 훔치어
달아나 버렸네.

 

잃어버린 보물 찾아
헤매인 십 년
빈 가지 끝에 걸린 해를 만나곤
비위 둔 집으로 되돌아왔네.

 

녹슨 자물쇠를 부수고
내 방에 들어와 보니
십 년 전 내 마음도녹이 슬어서
고스란히 먼지 속에 놓이어 있네.

 

김소옆

... Sanko Lewis