Empty field

Poet Ko Jin-ha was born in Gangwon Province and still lives there. In his blood runs water from Gangwon mountain valley and in his breathe stays air from Gangwon. Just as the poet’s body rests on the nature, his thoughts and heart depend on the nature. Therefore, it is only natural that his poems sing about the nature and are made from the nature. Is nature dependable? Yes. Is nature so reliable? Yes. However, I do not think the nature is about always filling up, something always full. The nature fills our blood and our breath, but sometimes the nature is empty. What does it do when it is empty? It rarely stays wasteful. It always gives us something. It tries to embrace us even when it is empty.

“Empty Field” by Ko Jin-ha is one of his finest works from his early career. It was the first flag of his life, meaning it is something important. The summary of the poem is as follows: Let go of everything like the empty fields. An empty space is filled with something. Let me follow suit and fill me up. It was this heart that created his poem and his life. Later, the poet wrote a poem titled, “On the Empty Field Again,” meaning that the heart of the empty field was so important. What did the poet get there? After assuring himself that there was nothing there, he was convinced that the place was full.

As we go through life, we sometimes need to correct out thoughts and heart from the beginning. Where does it start? It starts with emptying everything. It starts with finding the empty space in our heart.