Yoo Heekyung

Sep 12, 2024 | wordswithoutborders.org | Katrine Øgaard Jensen |Ursula Andkjær Olsen |Yoo Heekyung |Nina Perrotta

Translator’s note: This poem is part of a longer work titled “Ancient Algorithms,” in which I remix, rewrite, and mistranslate my English translations of Ursula Andkjær Olsen’s poetry—sometimes with Olsen’s involvement, sometimes with other poets, and occasionally, like in this case, by myself. Aided by two decks of virtual cards in a game of online Spider Solitaire, I wove together and corrupted my translations of Olsen’s lines based on a set of self-imposed rules.

Sep 5, 2024 | wordswithoutborders.org | Kristian Lundberg |Tobias Carroll |Nina Perrotta |Yoo Heekyung

Late summer or early fall—memories are unreliable Father was lying on his side In the swaying spiderweb, no spider could be seen The spider is hiding, why don’t you try touching the spiderweb But I am afraid The sound of wooden floorboards creaking Withering up for decades, Father rolled over to his other side And when he did, his scent, his warmth Just as I hadn’t touched the spiderweb, I didn’t dare touch my father’s back And so, neither the spider nor my father moved Why couldn’t I grasp...