Korean Poem "Stars" By Gong Jae-dong

Stars

                                   By Gong Jae-dong

On a joyful night,

there wasn't a single one—

not a single one.

But on a day of sorrow,

the sky is filled with stars.

Tens of thousands?

Hundreds of thousands?

On a night when I want to weep,

there are stars in my heart, too.

The whole world is stars.

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< Reflecting on a Poem>

On the night of October 2nd, the stars were so bright that I decided to take some photos of the night sky.

While doing so, I was reminded of a poem about stars that I used to recite in my youth.

Back then, although I experienced plenty of happiness, I also seemed to grapple with a sense of despair and discouragement I couldn't quite explain.

Whenever I felt that way, I would look up at the sky and offer up a prayer—or perhaps something that wasn't quite a prayer.

This is one of the poems that would come to mind as I gazed at the sky, steeped in sorrow.

Today, surrounded by so many stars, taking these photos brought back memories of that time and that poem.

<About the Poet>

Gong Jae-dong (born June 19, 1949) is a South Korean poet, *sijo* writer, and children's story author. He was born in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province.

He made his debut as a poet in 1974 while working as an elementary school teacher in Busan, subsequently entering the literary scene as a *sijo* writer in 1976 and as a children's story author in 1984. He is a children's literature writer regarded as a senior figure in the literary community of the Yeongnam region.

In 2012, he authored and published a critical biography titled *A Critical Biography of Writer Hyangpa Lee Ju-hong*.