Yang Geum-Hee - Poetry (Prepared for publication by Angela Kosta)
Moderator 
Ms. YANG GEUM-HEE (SOUTH KOREA)
Poetess Ms. Yang Geum-Hee, born in 1967 in Jeju, Korea, has published four poetry collections and received eight literary awards in recognition of her contributions to literature. Nests of Birds (a bilingual English-Korean edition) and an essay collection titled A Happy Companion on the Journey. In acknowledgment of her extensive contributions to international literature, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the International Forum for Creativity and Humanity (President Dr. Aziz Mountassir) in the Kingdom of Morocco in March 2025. Poet Ms. Yang was Editor-in-Chief of Jejuin News, a researcher at the Jeju Sea Grant Center, a specially appointed professor at Jeju International University, and the second President of the Korean Association of World Literature. She currently serves as an editorial writer for Samda Ilbo, President of Jeju PEN, and Vice President of the Korean Peace Cooperation. I am also a member of the Consortium of Distinguished Scholars under the International Academy of Ethics.
Her poetry has been translated into multiple languages and introduced in countries including the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, England, Taiwan, Nepal, Egypt, Greece, Pakistan, Vietnam, Albania, Bangladesh, Kosovo, Tajikistan, Belgium, and beyond.
WHISPERING TO THE FLOWER
Even a flower at the zenith of beauty
must bear the weight
to uphold its color.
Time gone by turns into fragrance,
adorning its wounds,
while each new dawn blooms
with the shadow of fear in its heart.
From where it stands,
the flower receives
the resonance of laughter and tears-
a single weeping of petals.
It cools the flames
of greed, anger, and delusion
with the breath of nobility,
and along the stem of awakening
even the remnants of anguish
are dyed in the hues of truth.
Thus,
in the moment when body and soul
touch the earth as one,
that very instant-
we call it The Splendor of Blossoming Years,
the flowering of the soul.
DAFFODIL
DAFFODIL
The yellow daffodil
that blooms only in midwinter-
a beauty that drives away the cold,
a source of strength
to endure the frost.
So that the heart
waiting for spring
does not grow weary,
it lays a bridge of blossoms
across the depth of winter,
whispering-
Take my hand, cross over.
A selfless pilgrim,
guiding us toward spring.
To cleanse the crooked memories
with its clear ringing,
it hangs beneath the eaves of winter
like a wind chime of quiet purification.
