As soon as the water runs out, the corpses
That were crouching under the water awaken
Hills that were fields
Slopes that were rice paddies, stream banks that were paths
Gudeuljang* that people carried on their backs
Earthenware jars that couldn't leave as their sides were broken
Forgotten hoes left hanging from tree branches
How can I leave? What if you dont go?
Give me more! Enough, you! Sounds of quarreling
Moo, bow-wow, cock-a-doodle-do, oink-oink
Sounds of power cultivators leaving
Slanting telephone poles like old people going to borrow water pumps
With a pallid, unseemly appearance, they open their graves and come out
Please give me water!
Please give me water!
*Translated by Rodney E. Tyson
Euntaek Hong
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*Gudeuljang: pieces of flat stone placed over the underfloor heating system in Korean buildings.
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= KOREAN =