"Empty Ocean" by Jeong Ho-seung

Going to visit, no place to go
Coming back, no place to come back to
Leaving again, no place to leave for
Though I live, there's no living
Though I die, there's no dying
In the empty ocean
wrapped in a dawn sea-fog, a typhoon gone by
one mustard seed floats.




I'd love to see the Korean original.

The above is from a music program my parents gave me. While I was in the States, they went to see a Korean musician named Jang Sa-ik, whose musical style might best be called "fusion" because it incorporates modern Western rhythms and the traditional music of the old Korean court. It's a fascinating sound; I wish I had asked my folks to buy me a CD. The program is full of poetry; I assume the poems are translations of the lyrics used in Jang's songs. "Empty Ocean" is the first poem in the program.

I just thought the above poem would be a serene chaser after the tumult of the Marmot's comment threads.


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