[Afternoon Poem] A Day of Sunshine / Jo Hyunseok

The inner secrets of the willow tree darkened throughout the winter

Curious sunlight, as soon as it opens its eyes,

began to pierce through the tree's rugged bark.

Until the day before yesterday, it traced

the bent trunk from the base touching the ground

to about halfway up the sky.

Yesterday, it tirelessly caressed the drooping branches.

A sweet breeze blew from all directions.

When one side was pierced, the other side seemed to be pushed away,

and within a few days, the frostbitten branches

were healed with a golden glow wrapped in sunlight.

Today, at the tips of thousands of branches,

it licks the flower buds and the veins of the light green leaves.

Breathing out warm breaths through the night,

The tree, with work to do tomorrow, is joyful.

What should it do the day after tomorrow?

Suddenly, the sunlight becomes curious too.

■ The many things sunlight did today: going out early in the morning to welcome the coming spring, gently caressing each yellow dandelion head sulking curled up all night on the way to greet spring, politely visiting and greeting the few halmikkot (Halmikkot) sitting sparsely under the wall, quickly calling the great tit and sparrow hiding in the shade to see the cherry blossoms just beginning to bloom, and on that occasion, bringing out the first butterfly, playing for a long time in the stream so the frog eggs embracing each other softly wouldn’t get cold, sprouting new leaves quickly wherever the plum blossom petals had fallen so they wouldn’t feel regret, hanging about two hundred pure white flower lanterns on the magnolia tree in front of the house worrying about dad who will come home late tonight... There are so many things sunlight did today. ? Poet Chaesangwoo

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