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한가위

 

어머니

마지막 하직할

당신의 연세보다도

이제 불초 제가 나이를 먹고

아버지 돌아가실 무렵보다도

머리와 수염이 세었답니다

 

 

어머니

신부(神父) 형이 공산당에게 납치된 뒤는

대녀(代女) 요안나 집에 의탁하고 계시다

세상을 떠나셨다는데

()에나 모셨는지, 무덤이나 지었는지

산소도 헤아릴 없으매

더더욱 애절합니다

 

어머니

오늘은 중추 한가위,

성묘를 간다고 시민이

서울을 비우고 떠났다는데

일본서 중공서 성묘단이 왔다는데

저는 아침에 연미사(煉彌撒)만을 드리곤

이렇듯 서재 창가에 멍하니 앉아서

북으로 흘러가는 구름만 쳐다봅니다

 

어머니

어머니

Harvest Moon Festival

Mother,
your unworthy son is older now
than you were when I took my leave of you
for the last time,
and it seems my hair and beard are whiter
than my father's when he died.

Mother,
I have heard that after my elder brother, the priest,
was taken away by the communists, you found refuge
in the house of your god-daughter Johanna
until you died,
but were you laid in a coffin?
Were you provided with a grave?
I do not know,
and I cannot picture your burial-place,
to my greater grief.

Mother,
today is the festival of the Harvest Moon,
they say a million people have left Seoul
to go and venerate their ancestors' tombs,
while groups have come from Japan and China
for the same purpose,
but I just attended a Requiem Mass this morning
and now, sitting here absently
at the window of my study,
I am gazing up at the clouds as they drift Northwards.

Oh mother.
Mother.