A Book

By: Geum-Jeong Il

An attentive gaze senses
That a book breathes

As its body is chiseled out of a tree,
A tree like in the forest
A book gives out the tree like soothing breath
A quivers with the breath of life

As long as it is alive
A book thinks
Lit up by its own body,
It lapse into deep thought,
Like a star shinning high in the night sky
Like a ship sailing alone at the night sea
In the wake of thought

A path opens
Like one cultivated by mind,
Lo! The path is warm and full of spirit

There are roads in books
On those roads
Many wise men have walked
And build the worlds of their dreams

Now in this moment,
The same truth is here
There is road in a book
So let us take the road together

[Naskah syair ini terukir di patung perunggu berbentuk buku berukuran sekitar 3 x 2 (meter) di entrance Kompleks Perpustakaan Kotamadya Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea]