Oryukdo Poem by Kinsley Lee

Eun-Sang Lee

Oryukdo, which is five islands
That sometimes look six when they gaze,
When it's cloudy, one or two islands,
Which are, Oryukdo, on clear days.
'Cause shifting
Weather, one can't far
Away, tell how many islands there are.

It seems, when gazing to be drunken,
There're ten or twenty islands in the sea,
When the fogs thicken,
It's a distant, faraway the sea.
Even today,
Through the rain, before
My eyes, I can't tell even more.

Long ago, someone planned
To count but couldn't, those islands,
So lowering the counting hand,
One called Oryukdo on the islands.
Returning,
I'll too vaguely
Convey that tale, possibly.
(Jun.,14th,2024, Translated by Kinsley Lee)