[Afternoon Poem] Your Invention / Park Jeongdae

Autumn flows in yellow through the leaves of the Zelkova tree, making the side of our yard bright.

This autumn, which comes and goes within that brightness, is a piece of music that fills the heart just by watching it.

Who invented solitude? Everything you see now is music.

I am now a leaf of the Zelkova tree, playing thrifty music like solitude.

Who invented the evening? Who invented the chirping of crickets?

Using a ladder, who invented the early evening stars in the night sky?

Even when dreaming of you, the heart that cannot reach you creates several pieces of music this evening.

With music, are you happy? This evening, when even the smallest movements in the world become music, I want to do nothing, lying down inventing you.

■ I think of you. I think of your face. I think of your eyes and nose, and your mouth and cheeks. It feels unfamiliar but somehow familiar. Yet, I have never met you. Just as I have never met you in my lifetime, I probably will never meet you until this life ends. It’s senselessly heartbreaking. Senselessly sad. Then it gradually stings. Specifically, it even aches. So I look far away. Stretching my neck as much as possible, I look far away for a long time. While looking far away, I ended up forgetting your face. It was clear just a moment ago, but now it’s only faint. I try hard to recall your face, but it seems that it is not your face after all. To forget your face! It really feels like you have left me. Before that, it really feels like you were by my side. Tears are about to fall. No, tears are already flowing. I can do nothing now. This evening, thinking of you and thinking of you again, other than that, I can do nothing. You are already a god to me. Shadows of leaves layer upon the leaves. ? Poet Chaesangwoo

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