Between the immensities: Winter Through a Mirror Part 5
South Korean author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2024. Nobel officials recognized Han Kang for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” Kang was born in Korea in 1970. She first published five poems in 1993 at 23 years of age. She has since moved on to short stories and novels. Here is Part 5 of one of her first poems. She writes in Korean. This is a translation of her longer poem, “Winter Through a Mirror” Part 5.
‘Winter Through a Mirror Part 5’
“My eyes are two candle stubs sliding drops of wax as they
consume the wick, it is not searing nor painful, they say that
the quivering of the bluish flame core is the coming of souls,
souls sit on my eyes and quiver, they hum, the outer flame
swaying in the distance sways to get further off, tomorrow you
leave for the furthest city, here I am ablaze, now you put your
hands into the tomb of the void and wait, memory bites your
fingers like a snake, you are not seared, nor in pain, your
unflinching face does not burn or shatter.”
Joey aka “Pepe Batbon” Connolly is a retired educator who taught in the CNMI, NOLA, and LVNV. He is the Poet Laureate of Tinian and enjoys stargazing.
