WHITE WATER
White water hurrying to the blue mountain –

why such haste to embrace your

destination? Once there you won’t be

coming back any time soon. Relax,

love the moonlight on the mountain, but

take your time. Enjoy the beautiful journey.

 
I TAKE
I take the longest night of winter

by its centre and fold it

beneath a blanket of spring wind

and there I wait for your return

when part by part I will unfold

this night for us to enjoy again.
 
I AM STEADFAST
I am steadfast as this mountain.

Green is the water of my lover’s

affection. Water flows this way

and that, but a mountain never

changes. And as the stream passes by

it still reflects the mountain.
 
WHAT CAN BE OLDER
What can be older than a mountain

or younger than water

that with its ceaseless flowing

never ages? The restless people, too,

ebb and flow like water, gone so swiftly

they never learn how to grow old.
 
HERE
(after Im Je*)
Here in the valley’s long green grass

are you sleeping or just at rest?

Alas, where is your beautiful face?

Now only your bones remain in the earth.

Bereft, who is there to share with me

this sad cup of homage that I bring?

*Im Je travelled to Songdo to visit Hwang Jin Yi, the great kisaeng poet, only to find she had died some years before.