비가 오다
책상 앞에 앉다
책상이 가만히 말하다
나는 일찍이 꽃이었고 잎이었다 줄기였다
나는 사막 저쪽 오아시스까지 뻗어간
땅속의 긴 뿌리였다
책상 위의 쇠토막이 말하다
나는 달밤에 혼자 울부짖는 늑대의 목젖이었다
비가 그치다
밖으로 나간다
흠뻑 젖은 풀이 나에게 말하다
나는 일찍이 너희들의 희로애락이었다
너희들의 삶이었고 노래였다
너희들의 꿈속이었다
이제 내가 말하다
책상에게
쇠에게
흙에게
나는 일찍이 너였다 너였다 너였다
지금 나는 너이고 너이다
Ko Un (b. 1933) was born in Gunsan, Jeolla Province. Among over 70 volumes of poetry, his major poetry collections include The Nirvana Sensibility (1960), Going to Muneui Village (1974), Early Morning Road (1978), Star of the Fatherland (1984), Garden Verses (1986), Lineage of Ten Thousand Men (Vol. 1, 1987, Vols. 2-26, 2007), Baekdu Mountain 1 (Vol. 1, 1987, Vols. 2-7, 1994), The Dark of Your Eyes (1988), Seon Poetry, What? (1991), Dokdo (1995), Whisper (1998), Poems I Left Behind (2002), and Empty (2008). Going together with the modern history of Korea, the poet has explored, for all his life, the new way of poetic words opening the rebellious spirit of the age in a more vivid and real way than the history book does. He is the recipient of countless literary awards including Korean Literature Prize, Manhae Prize in Literature, etc, and has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. As his poetry books have been translated into various languages, he has appealed to many readers of other countries.
