Yeon Myung-ji (poem)
Moderator 
Poet Ms. Yeon Myung-ji
Poet Yeon Myung-ji began her literary career in 2013 by publishing “Gashibi” with Minerva Publishing. She then published “Sitting Like an Apple” and “Seventeen Miss Marco Polo.” She won the 2023 Homi Literary Award and the Gyeongbuk Ilbo Cheongsong Guesthouse Literary Award. She has also worked as a journalist for the online newspaper POST 24 and is currently the Vice President of the Korean Association of World Literature.
THE WESTERN WITCH
Rumors kept spreading-
birds trembled though no wind blew.
Before the festival ended, the alley was closed.
There wasn’t enough time to read Halloween properly.
When excited rabbits threw carrots,
the birds pushed each other forward.
Trapped in the alley, they reassured themselves-
just one more turn, and they’d be free.
The hour of shadows.
The sunlight skimmed over them indifferently.
Love, melted as it stood, seeped painfully into the alley.
Born into a human body, the Western Witch left the alley
and disappeared somewhere.
An alley like a cliff-
even as death surged, no one noticed.
With their wings folded, the birds still wander the Itaewon cliff, unable to leave.
No traces remain-no one knows if they lived or died.
Below the cliff, the blue waves hum like strings being plucked,
while early-bloomed white chrysanthemums scatter in the alley
that could not spare even the smallest gap.
The hearts of the birds have entered the wombs of all the mothers in the world.
And we, who must lull them into a beautiful sleep,
wear sorrow like a second skin.
서쪽마녀
바람이 불지 않았는데 새들이 흔들렸다는
소문은 반복적으로 불어왔다
축제가 끝나기 전 골목이 닫혔다
할로윈을 제대로 읽어낼 시간이 부족했다
흥분한 토끼들이 당근을 던질 때
새들은 서로 등 떠밀려 가는 중
골목에 갇힌 새들은 모퉁이 하나만 돌면 된다고
겁없이 말했다
그늘의 시간
햇살은 무심하게 그들을 훑고 지나갔다
서서 녹아내린 사랑이 아프게 스며든 골목
사람의 몸을 빌려 태어난 서쪽 마녀는 골목을 벗어나
어디론가 사라졌다
낭떠러지를 닮은 골목
죽음이 출렁거려도 아무도 보지 못했다
날개를 접은 새들이 떠나지 못하고 이태원 절벽을 서성인다
흔적을 찾을 수 없어 죽었는지 살았는지 모른다는
절벽 아래 푸른 파도가 윙윙 현을 켜고
좁은 틈 하나 내줄 수 없던 골목에 일찍 피어버린 하얀 국화꽃들
새들의 심장은 세상 모든 어미들 태중에 들고
그들을 아름답게 잠재워야 하는 우리는 자주 슬픔을 껴입는다
