Wednesday Poetry: Alone

Alone

By Cho Dong-rye

Whether home or away

I am alone

Whether awake or asleep

I am alone

In such moments

the body speaks to the heart

I will follow you

The heart answers the body

I will do as you bid

If only you who love me are here

I shall long for nothing more

---

*Commentary by Poet Ban Chil-hwan:*

If I were among many whether home or away, where would I be? If I were among many whether awake or asleep, where would my dwelling be? Even if the entire universe conspires to make me whole, would not the absence of my loneliness be a flaw in the universe itself? Without loneliness, would there not also be no longing? If the body follows the heart, and the heart does as the body bids, what obstacle could there be? Does not being alone come before Confucius, Mencius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi?