René Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938, September 28, 2013–January 12, 2014@MoMA

VISION TEST

Kyung-Nyun Kim Richards

Is this better, click, or this better?

          The second one.

Is this better, click, or this better?

          The first one.

Number one, click, Number two?

          Number one.

Number one, click, Number two?

          Number two.

Number one, click, or Number two?

          Can't tell.

The man opposite the big black machine

through which I am looking

clicks away the lenses,

like a magician 

until my eyes can see the distance

the middle field

and up close,

as clearly as eyes can possibly see.

Now only if I could get my inner vision 

checked so thoroughly and fitted

with such precision lenses

that I could remove

the blur of my life

and see it

clearly and distinctly

to know

what it was

what it is 

and what it will be.

© Kyung-Nyun Kim Richards 1998  

 

김경년 Kyung-Nyun Kim Richards 시인/번역가

이화여대와 동대학원 불문과 졸업. U.C. 버클리 언어학 석사, 박사과정 수료. U.C. 버클리 한국어과 교수(1980-2008). 

윤동주 시선집 'Sky, Wind, and Stars (하늘과 바람과 별과 시)' 공역(2003), 차학경 원저 '딕테(Dictée)' 번역(1997), 김승희 시선집 'I Want to Hyjack an Airplane' 공역(2004), 윤후명 원저 'The Love of Dunhuang (둔황의 사랑)' 공역(2005), 시집 '달팽이가 그어 놓은 작은 점선' 출간(2010). 국제펜 39회 번역문학상 소설부문상(2006), 대한민국 국민훈장 동백장 수훈(2008), Translation Award, The First International Poetry Festival, Swansea, Wales(2011).