That Every Moment Is a Flower Bud

Chong Hyon-jong (1939 – present)

I regret at times.
That moment, that event
Could have been a treasure trove…
The person of that moment
The thing of that moment
Could have been a treasure trove…
Had I digged in more passionately
And talked more passionately
And listened more passionately
And loved more passionately…

Had I not let it go like
A stammerer,
Or a deaf,
Or a person staring vacantly…
Had I loved
The moment more passionately…

Every single moment
Is a flower bud,
A flower bud
That blooms through my passion!

1989
(Translated by Jido Ahn. March 2016)

Learn more about the poet: Chong Hyon-jong (1939 – )

모든 순간이 꽃봉오리인 것을

정현종 (1939 – )

나는 가끔 후회한다.
그때 그 일이
노다지였을지도 모르는데…
그때 그 사람이
그때 그 물건이
노다지였을지도 모르는데…
더 열심히 파고들고
더 열심히 말을 걸고
더 열심히 귀 기울이고
더 열심히 사랑할 걸…

반벙어리처럼
귀머거리처럼
보내지는 않았는가,
우두커니처럼…
더 열심히 그 순간을
사랑할 것을…

모든 순간이 다아
꽃봉오리인 것을,
내 열심에 따라 피어날
꽃봉오리인 것을!

1989

Photo source: Yonhap News

This poem appears in the 8th grade Korean textbook.