Toward Boquete, After Seventy

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The poem adopts first-person reflection to capture a serene retirement in Boquete. Time becomes “the clock of hurry and noise” that the speaker willingly abandons, signaling a shift from busyness to deliberate living. Vivid natural images—cloud forest air, coffee trees, hummingbirds—establish Boquete’s lush setting and evoke sensory calm. Spanish words (“Caldera,” “Volcán Barú”) ground the scene culturally, hinting at linguistic immersion. The final couplet treats life as poetry: if Boquete is the speaker’s “final stanza,” then its tranquility forms the perfect closing rhyme, suggesting acceptance and fulfillment rather than finality tinged with loss.

Toward Boquete, After Seventy

I unburden the clock of hurry and noise,
let each minute breathe like high-mountain air.
Morning mist lifts, revealing feathered coffee trees;
hummingbirds stitch silence with emerald thread.

I walk the cloud-kissed ridge,
bones loosened by warmth and wind.
The town below murmurs in Spanish vowels,
soft as river stones turning in Caldera’s flow.

Evening burns orange over Volcán Barú,
and I taste the sun’s last zest in a cup of cacao.
If this gentle valley is my final stanza,
let its quiet rhyme my closing line.

Explanation

The poem adopts first-person reflection to capture a serene retirement in Boquete. Time becomes “the clock of hurry and noise” that the speaker willingly abandons, signaling a shift from busyness to deliberate living. Vivid natural images—cloud forest air, coffee trees, hummingbirds—establish Boquete’s lush setting and evoke sensory calm. Spanish words (“Caldera,” “Volcán Barú”) ground the scene culturally, hinting at linguistic immersion. The final couplet treats life as poetry: if Boquete is the speaker’s “final stanza,” then its tranquility forms the perfect closing rhyme, suggesting acceptance and fulfillment rather than finality tinged with loss.

칠십 이후, 보케테로

서두름과 소음의 시계를 내려놓고
분마다 고산의 맑은 숨을 들이킵니다.
아침 안개가 걷히면 깃털 같은 커피나무가 드러나고
벌새가 에메랄드 실로 고요를 꿰매지요.

구름이 입맞춘 능선을 거닐며
바람과 햇살에 뼈마디가 풀립니다.
마을 아래서는 스페인어 모음 같은 속삭임이
칼데라 강의 조약돌처럼 부드럽게 구르지요.

해 질 녘, 바라 산 너머 하늘이 주홍으로 물들면
카카오 한 모금에서 태양의 마지막 향을 맛봅니다.
이 온화한 계곡이 내 생의 마지막 연이라면
그 고요가 나의 끝맺음이기를 바랍니다.

해설

이 시는 ‘보케테에서 평온한 노후를 보내고 싶다’는 화자의 바람을 1인칭 시점으로 담았습니다. 첫 연에서 “시계를 내려놓는다”는 표현은 시간에 쫓기던 삶과 결별하고 여유를 택한다는 선언입니다. 고산 지대의 공기, 커피나무, 벌새 등 세밀한 자연 묘사는 보케테의 풍광을 시각·청각·촉각으로 보여 주어 독자가 함께 머무는 듯한 몰입감을 줍니다. 스페인어 지명을 활용해 공간적 실제감을 높였고, 노후에 새로운 문화에 스며드는 설렘을 은유했습니다.

마지막 두 행에서 화자는 인생을 ‘시’에 빗대어 “마지막 연”과 “끝맺음”으로 표현합니다. 이는 죽음이 종결이 아닌 완결임을 시사하며, 보케테의 고요와 아름다움이 자기 삶을 완성해 주리라는 확신을 전달합니다. 시 전체는 고요하지만 희망적인 정조로, 남은 삶을 자연 속에서 풍요롭게 누리겠다는 긍정적 메시지를 품고 있습니다.

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