All That Time/그 긴 세월 동안
by May Swenson/메이 스웬슨
I saw two trees embracing.
One leaned on the other
as if to throw her down.
But she was the upright one.
Since their twin youth, maybe she
had been pulling him toward her
all that time,
나는 두 그루의 나무가 서로 껴안고 있는 것을 보았다.
한 나무가 둘째 나무를 넘어뜨리기라도 하듯이
기대 서 있다.
하지만 실상은 그 둘째 나무가 똑바로 서 있는 나무였다.
둘이 어려서부터 쌍둥이로 성장하면서, 아마도 둘째 나무가
첫쩨 나무를 자신 쪽으로
그 긴 세월 동안 끌어당기면서 살다가,
and finally almost uprooted him.
He was the thin, dry, insecure one,
the most wind-warped, you could see.
And where their tops tangled
it looked like he was crying
on her shoulder.
On the other hand, maybe he
had been trying to weaken her,
break her, or at least
make her bend
over backwards for him
just a little bit.
And all that time
she was standing up to him
the best she could.
She was the most stubborn,
the straightest one, that's a fact.
But he had been willing
to change himself--
even if it was for the worse--
all that time.
At the top they looked like one
tree, where they were embracing.
It was plain they'd be
always together.
Too late now to part.
When the wind blew, you could hear
them rubbing on each other.
한글번역: Nancy Helen Kim©
(한글번역은 잠시 후 내립니다.)
이 시를 읽으면 시에 등장하는 인물이
가장 가까운 사람으로 인해서 발생하는 고통을 쉽게 상상을 할 수 있기도 하면서,
한편으로는 그들이 긴 세월을 함께 겪으면서 그들 나름대로의 쌓인 사랑도 전해진다.
