Untitled translation (5): "in a hearty mode"

by Kim Sowol · translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé

The day will come when you loathe me
and leave me;
Goodbye, that’s all, it’s over.

I’ll have them strew your road with
azaleas
from Yaksan in Yongbyon

Then be off with you
marching briskly
over those withered petals.

The day will come when you loathe me
and leave me;
you think I’ll cry? Not on your life. I won’t!

Brother Anthony (An Sonjae). “Translating Korean Poetry,” Modern Poetry in Translation 13 (1998). https://anthony.sogang.ac.kr/Azaleas.htm.