Army Second Lieutenant

Army Second Lieutenant

Everlasting youth and vitality

inside the rank of army second lieutenant.

In the hot and humid summer training camp,

I was always the last cadet in the standing on the ground.

That was most unforgettable part of my college life.

While Lee Mi-ja’s Camellia blooming,

Dancer’s First Love was revived as the chorus song

in the weekend R and R session

on the darkened ground under the starry sky.

The Youngchon Officer’s School, our last schooling,

and the Second Korean Army Hqs. in Taegu City

I served the first year were surrounded by apple orchards

have provided an enormous experience to my life and poetry.

When my ears were familiar with Taegu woman’s accent

and intonation,

I had to leave the attractive woman’s city for the front line.

There I ran Euijongbu, Moonsan, Dongduchon and Pochon, and

finally crossed the 38^th parallel in one evening.

I realized that Imjin River was the river of the division and that

The moon over the demilitarized zone was the same moon

I saw when I was young.

After two years tour, I returned to my graduate school,

but I still love that young officer’s rank.

I prefer one diamond to one star,

because I see my youth and vitality forever

from that diamond.