The Visitor (방문객)

By Korean poet 정현종 (Romanized as Chong Hyon-jong). Chong Hyon-jong (정현종; born 17 December 1939) is a South Korean writer and reporter. The poem appears in his 2009 anthology <섬> (Island).  It was featured in the K Drama ‘Because This Is My First Life’. I spotted this on a blog - https://shiningkorean.com/2017/12/06/that-poem-in-because-this-is-my-first-life/

사람이 온다는 건

실은 어마어마한 일이다.

그는

그의 과거와 현재와

그리고

그의 미래와 함께 오기 때문이다.

한 사람의 일생이 오기 때문이다.

부서지기 쉬운

그래서 부서지기도 했을

마음이 오는 것이다―그 갈피를

아마 바람은 더듬어볼 수 있을

마음,

내 마음이 그런 바람을 흉내낸다면

필경 환대가 될 것이다.

The Visitor

The coming of a person
is, in fact, a tremendous feat.
Because he
comes with his past and present
and with his future.

Because a person’s whole life comes with him.
Since it is so easily broken
the heart that comes along
would have been broken ― a heart
whose layers the wind will likely be able to trace,
if my heart could mimic that wind
it can become a hospitable place.