Anon.
Korean graves are in form of circular mounds. They vary in size according to the rank of the deceased. Selec¬tion of a propitious grave site is generally a matter of serious consideration on which a witch doctor is consulted. The poem suggests that, in this case, the usual care was not exercised by the relations.
You were the poet who made that happy song,
“The Water Sings Below the Hanging Rock.”
You loved clear water and grey mountain crags
More than all living things. These were your life.
You spoke their speech. You knew the songs they sang.
Yet, when you died, your brother buried you
Here, by a rice field, where the slimy pools
Lie stagnant, dark and silent, year by year.
I wonder if you wake at night to see
This water?
Surely even frozen stars
Could hardly find a mirror in such mud!
Since you must lie alone in this sad place
I would not have you wake.
Thinking of you,
I shall be silent for a long, long time.