Poet Yoo Dong Ae was born in Namhae, Gyeongnam Province. She graduated from Jinju Girls’ High School, Jinju National Teachers’ College, and Hansung University with a degree in Korean Language and Literature. She retired after a long career as an elementary school teacher. She made her literary debut in 1992 in the poetry section of Munyesajo. She currently serves as Vice President of the Korean Association of World Literature. She has also served as the inaugural Secretary-General of the Gangdong Literary Association and as President of the Gurye Literary Association. Her poetry collections include With the Flowers That Bloom Within Me (2017, supported by the Jeonnam Cultural Foundation’s Literary Creation Grant), and Sunlight on Broken Porcelain (2019, also supported by the Jeonnam Cultural Foundation’s Literary Creation Grant). She has also contributed to the poetry anthology Water Dreams of the Sea.
THE PEACH BLOSSOM PATH
Outside my window,
along the bicycle road,
peach blossoms have bloomed.
One sunlit day,
I shall walk that path,
while the spring within me is still moist with light.
On an afternoon after rain,
only the leaves trembled in the wind.
From every place where flowers lingered,
a fleeting light faded away.
Ah, the days of blooming,
how brief they were.
