한국과 나이지리아가 시의 향연을 펼쳤다.

주나이지리아 한국문화원과 나이지리아 아로자 극단(Arojah Theatre) 지난 21일 ‘세계 시의 날’(The World Poetry Day)을 맞이하여 ‘2016 한-나이지리아 시 쓰기 대회’를 마련한 것. 이날 대회에는 월레 오케디란(Wale Okediran) 나이지리아 작가협회장 등 1백여명이 참석했다.

특별코너에서 아데세우오(Jerry Adesewo) 아로자극단 감독은 한국의 고은 시인의 대표시 “평화의 노래”를 열정적으로 낭송해 많은 박수를 받았다. 이와함께 나이지리아 작가로는 처음으로 지난 1986년 노벨 문학상을 수상한 월레 소잉카의 작품도 낭송되어 서로의 문학에 대해 교감을 나눴다.

▲ 요루바족의 전통의상 ‘앙카라(Ankara)'를 걸친 아데세우오 아로자극단 감독이 한국의 고은 시인의 대표시 ’평화의 노래‘를 낭송하고 있다.

고은 시인은 “평화의 문제는 한반도에도, 나이지리아에도, 그리고 지구 위의 어디에서도 첫 번째 사명이다. 나이지리아의 고통인 지역적 종교적 적의가 하루빨리 해소되어 하나의 공동체 윤리안에서 평화를 구현하기를 간절히 바란다”라는 축하 메시지를 전달했다.

▲ 이번 대회에서는 성인부에서 에체조나추쿠(Echezonachukwu Nduka)씨가 'Listen' 이라는 시로, 학생부에서는 오페올루아(Opeoluwa Neith) 학생이 'My Pride' 라는 시로 우승을 차지했으며 'Seoul Sings'이라는 시를 응모한 무이우와(Muyiwa Ayinla)씨가 대사 특별상을 수상했다.

글 주나이지리아 한성래 문화원장

수상작

성인부 1등
이름: Echezonachukwu Nduka

Listen

Listen.
That night I walked away from
Your queries and accusing eyes,
The flap-flap sound of my slippers
Played rhythms to the lone tone of
A toad in the dark;
I cried, paused, and cried some more.
Listen.
My luggage is heavy with clothes and complaints
My new accent is penance for my sin in London’s winter.
It sits on my tongue in discomfort, like one sits
On a chair whose leg is broken and shaky.
And who knows, my forefather’s gods might have
Shed tears the size of Agulu Lake; vowing to twist
My tongue back to shapes of riddles and proverbs.
Listen.
There’re more tales in the eyes
Of a lady I met in Leytonstone;
In the voice of a baritone for whom operas
Are bittersweet politics;
In the playfulness of a lad at Robin Hood School;
In the bottles of beer that formed affections in Stratford;
In the laughter of Kim Cheng whose English is Chinese;
In the mind of my professor during a minute of critical thinking;
And in the underground stations where music boards every train:
Listen.
There’re more truths
In the politics of dying and survival;
In the way death commands attention;
In the nod of a lad whose yes means no;
In the anguish of a writer whose ink is dry;
In the bulala of a soldier whose love is cruel;
In Fela’s saxophone whose riffs are prophesies:
Listen.
Listen to the belly of that child
Whose meals are stolen;
His yawns and tears are testifying:
Listen.
Listen to the pains of a sister
Whose star cracked on the altar of rape;
Whose shame, names, blames are badges
For this terror that tears the soul;
Whose voice is shut when voices speak:
Listen.
Listen to the anguish of a Grandpa
Whose pensions are paid in heaven;
Whose fruits of labour are laid
On the tables of men whose motorcades
And sirens stir more dusts that blind
The eyes of a people:
Listen.
Listen to the breath of a brother
Whose shoes have walked a thousand miles
In search of a job that fetches a little or none,
His stories are no news in a land that lends no ear:
Listen.
Listen to the silence of an uncle
Whose life is taken by the potholes that rule the highway
Whose death is one more name in the register of those
Whose martyrdom is a dent on a flag that forgets its own:
Listen.
There’s a poem in the sound of nothing:
Listen.

청소년부 1등
이름: Opeoluwa Neith
학교: Sasa Community high School Sasa, Akowonjo Lagos

My Pride

I can touch each beat of pain
That struck my heart with cane
My heart bleeds and turns lean
By my 'me' who pronounces mean
With trust I gave you my brunch
Tasteful, and I sold you my lunch
In your delicious meal I feast
Like flames of dirt in a yeast
Building castles in the air was my dream
With your speeches I bathed and cream
At the shore I forgot my principle
Only to know not you flock with all people
It hurts so that I cry
And wish I could fly
What a beautiful mistake?
How do I get up?

특별상- 대사상
Muyiwa Ayinla

Seoul Sings

Beautiful Seoul
Like a newly wedded bride
Smiles at Han in bursting pride
For gone are the days
Of tears of dismay.
I heard beautiful Seoul Sings
Even if her language I do not know
But the dancing steps of her mountains
And the rhythmic flow of her fountains
And the sonorous ringing of the bells
Hanging from the ancient towers
Tells me I can never be wrong
That she sings beautifully well.
You have lived in so many dreams
And to some a splendour behold
Like you have been an inspiration
For Kim to make a Sung
To raise comrades of esteem in your defence.
Seoul Sings
Right from the days of ancient past
Of Comrades rise and fall
Of beauty and buildings tall
And of bravery in the midst of fear.
Seoul Sings on a Floating Island
In castles and ancient palaces,
In loftiness and in splendour
Of which my eyes do yearn to see.