Untitled One day I took a pebble from an East Sea beach and put it in my pocket but it jumped back out, shrieking. As it hurtled off into the distance, it failed to make the slightest sound. It had no idea of the strong emotions I was longing for. Out at sea are flocks of seagulls ready to peck out and swallow facile words. By Ko Un. Born in 1933 in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Ko Un is perhaps Koreas foremost living writer.

Parting Creates Beauty by Han Yong'un Parting creates beauty. There is no beauty of parting in the ephemeral gold of the morning; nor in the seamless black silk of the night; nor in the eternal life which admits no death; nor in the gorgeous celestial flower that never fades. O love, if there is no parting, I cannot come back to life in laughter after tearful death. O parting! Parting creates beauty.

HILLS SURROUND ME By Mok-Wol Pak The hills surround me, and Tell me to live my life, Sowing the seeds, Tilling the land. Build a house below a hill, Bear sons, bear daughters; Plant pumpkins along the mud walls. Live like wild roses, Live like wormwood. The hills surround me, and Tell me to live like clouds, Tell me to live like winds; Life will soon wane like the moon.

The Moon Every time the moon rose, she prayed. Finally Wol-nam's mother, at forty, bore a son. In dreams before pregnancy, she swallowed the moon. After her son was born, Wol-nam's mother would lose her mind without fail every time the moon rose. Late at night, washing dishes, she'd smash one bowl- the moon then hid in a cloud and the world grew blind.

By Dong-Myung Kim Night is A lake shrouded in blue fog. I am a fisherman On sleep's sailboat, Fishing dreams. by Jung-Ju Suh On dazzling shiny days Let us long for the loved ones. The autumn flowers have fallen and The tarnished green is tinted by maples. What if it snows? What if the spring returns? If I die and you live? If you die and I live? NIGHT SHINY DAYS

ROCK by Chi-Hwan Yu When I die, I will become a rock, never touched by compassion, joy or anger. While being torn down by wind and rain, It will only whip itself inwards in eternal, impersonal silence, and at last forget its own existence; Floating clouds, distant thunder! Though it may dream, it will never sing. Though broken in pieces, it will never utter a word. I will become such a rock.

New Years Day by Ko Un This is the loneliest spot in the country on New Years Day. Ive spent the whole long winter here, devoid of everything. Its been a week already since the boats stopped running. Cheju Island goes on getting smaller until sad eyes cannot see it. Dont overturn the glass from which you drank. Once youre past thirty, you can make friends with an empty glass. Tell me, wind: what can I hope for on New Years Day on this remote island? After some tedious, very tedious reading by the light of a small oil lamp, I mutter a single drunken line but vowels alone cant make it audible as far as that widowers tomb out there. So, wind: let none live here but those who will die here. Endurance is the greatest journey of all. Even if the boats are completely overwhelmed by the gale, Im going to set out, though Ive got no overcoat. Tell me again, wind: what more can I hope for on New Years Day? From the guts of a boarding house, coughs flee one after another, thats all I can hear. One day, theyll return, transformed into the local dialect. Ah, New Years greetings, buried alive by Cheju Islands wild whirlwinds.