Miscellaneous records on Korean poetry, culture, and more.

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. ----------------- < 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 so...

                          Star                            by Shin Kyung-rim Now that I have grown old and my eyes have dimmed, I can see the stars. Twinkling, twinkling in the Seoul sky,  I can see the stars. Because I can see the stars in the sky, I can see stars among the grass and trees. Because I can see stars among the grass and trees, I can see stars among the people. Twinkling, twinkling in the murky sky,  I can see the stars— stars I could not see when my eyes were bright. 별 -                        신경림    나이 들어 눈 어두우니 별이 보인다 반짝반짝 서울 하늘에 별이 보인다 하늘에 별이 보이니 풀과 나무 사이에 별이 보이고 풀과 나무 사이에 별이 보이니 사람들 사이에 별이 보인다 반짝반짝 탁한 하늘에 별이 보인다 눈 밝아 보이지 않던 별이 보인다 *