Yeon Myung-ji (Prepared Angela Kosta)
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 is a Vice President of Korean Association of World Literature.
The Lamp on the Rotem Tree
In the beginning, there was a person.
The very first one
felt the cool shade beneath the apple tree.
But the sun went down, and night passed,
and a foul mouth was born.
Every eye, once resting peacefully beneath the apple tree,
startled—whispers burst like seeds.
And every ear echoed with strange sounds.
That was the turning point.
We must remember
the white broom tree.
A tree that can hardly cast a shadow,
offering nothing to those who seek it.
Its fruit, laced with poison—
a useless, lonely white broom.
A desolate square, where lips kissed anxiety,
dust swirling in the wind as the crowd gathered.
Before the cold face of reality,
they beat their tin drums,
spilling out their rage,
shoving neighbors' backs,
breaking peace with their own hands.
In this square of hatred,
we must remember the venom in our mouth
and sing a song of harmony.
We were, yes, we were friends for a long time.
And now, precariously,
a single lamp hangs on the white broom.
로뎀나무 등불
사람이 시작이었네.
처음의 사람은
사과나무 아래서 시원한 그늘을 느꼈지.
그러나 해가 지고, 밤이 지나며
추한 입이 태어났네.
사과나무 아래 편히 쉬던 모든 눈이 놀라
속삭이듯 씨앗을 터뜨렸지.
모든 귀에는 이상한 소리가 메아리쳤네.
그때부터였지.
기억해야만 하네,
로뎀나무를.
그늘조차 제대로 만들지 못하고
사람에게 아무것도 줄 수 없는 나무.
열매는 독이 되어
쓸모없는, 쓸쓸한 로뎀나무.
황량한 광장, 불안에 입 맞춘 자들
바람 속 먼지에 휘말려 광장으로 모여들었네.
차가운 현실 앞에서
양철북을 두드리는 사람들,
울분을 쏟으며 이웃의 등을 떠밀고
스스로 평화를 깨뜨렸지.
서로를 미워하는 이 광장에서
입안에 남은 독을 기억하며
화합의 노래를 불러야 하네.
우리는, 그래,
우리는 오랫동안 친구였다네.
이제, 위태롭게
로뎀나무에 등불이 하나 걸렸네.
Prepared Angela Kosta
