The Moon

Ask this question to poets: Which one do you prefer, the sun or the moon?

What do you think their answer will be? It’s a conundrum comparable to a question asking who do you love more, mom or dad. Then, what’s the majority decision to this tricky question? I’d say the moon, because it has been used as one of the most popular poetic symbols in Korea. Therefore, I would say poets prefer the moon over the sun.

Unlike the sun, your eyes can be filled up with the moon. This means it can also be filled up in your heart. Poets particularly love the things that can fill up their eyes and hearts. Plus, the moon can light up the dark a little. Although the sun can drive away the dark, it is the moon that helps you endure the dark. After all, poets love hope in despair more than perfect happiness.

And the moon is the heart itself. For those who fell in love, the moon is the other half. For those who broke up, it is the sadness. And for those who lost the loved ones, it is a yearning desire. The moon is everything that exists that cannot be seen. We reflect things we can see in reality to the moon, and we try harder to find things we can’t see in reality in the moon. If it weren’t for the moon, the soul of poets would have been poorer.

I read this poem to understand a poet who loves the moon. It is a story of knowing the existence albeit you cannot see. It is a story of things your heart understands not your head. Behind this poem, so many poets are there. They all nod in unison: There surely is the heart which you cannot see; and our hearts have become that moon in the sky.