Celebrated Korean poems (26)

A Reed

Shin Gyeong-nim (1935 - )

For some time past, a reed had been

quietly weeping inwardly.

Then finally, one evening, the reed

realized it was trembling all over.

It wasn't the wind or the moon.

The reed was utterly unaware that it was its own

quiet inward weeping that was making it tremble.

It was unaware

that being alive is a matter

of that kind of quiet inward weeping.