Imjin River Poem.

This one, written by Yi Ki Ban is about the Imjin river. The river runs from North Korea into South Korea, at times forming the border between both. Occasionally North Korean farmers are found floating dead in its waters.

The River Imjin
The river is tongue-tied,
too full of sorrow.
Wrenched with the pain of parting
my heart has grown numb.
Insects in the grass rend the air
as if to grieve for the nation.

Smiles on the faces of those in white
once streamed there like flapping flags;
those hillsides used to be crossed freely
by all, hand in hand.
Now they have turned into guns
that glare at each other. O river of sighs!
--Yi Ki Ban (b. 1931).