Meteor
 
Death brings a burst of tears
and birth a burst of tears.
 
A departure that makes others cry is death,
birth is a coming at which we ourselves cry;
at the end and beginning of life
there are always tears.
 
Meteor tears fall
flashing across the black sky,
the pitch-black darkness.
Oh, a sudden illumination touches my heart.
 
Has someone died?
 
Has someone been born?


Translation in collaboration with Jongsook Lee