He was my Love, for whom I have been waiting
since early spring,
but the summer has passed,
the autumn has passed,
and even the cold winter has passed.
I thought,
Once the spring comes,
the Love, who could not come before, would come
dressed like the swallow that flies to Gangnam.*
(Translator’s note: Gangnam is the south side of Yangtze River in China where swallows fly for migration.)
Even though the spring has gone away,
and the summer in which the scops owls cry all night long
has become deeper,
He did not come this year either.
Ah, in order to see if I am waiting for
the Love who could not even come,
the Love has suddenly come next to me
and is looking at me.
The Love who has come in the early autumn,
when the heron cries,
Ah, I thought He would come dressed up.
Ah, but that image [of Him] that could not be dressed up,
who would know and receive Him?
Ah, He is the Love who could not come like a divine being
riding on a white cloud in the sky.
The one who has been waiting for the Love knows it right away,
receives Him who has come like a thief, and is joyful
And so makes His worries of a thousand years go away.
-9.11.1993. Saturday, at Pyeongchang-dong
