When we tire of the world’s greed

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When we tire of the world’s greed

Published: 13 Jun. 2025, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Yang Sung-hee

The author is a columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.

In times of weariness with the world’s insatiable greed, poet Park No-hae’s collection "Another Way" (2014) offers quiet refuge. Composed during his journeys to remote East Asian villages, the poems reflect a life defined not by abundance but by grace, simplicity and dignity.

Park writes in “The Women of Ladakh”: “This year’s potato harvest is poor, but the women of Ladakh do not despair. / Even as they carry heavy loads up steep fields, / they sing and chat with voices light as girls’. / ‘There are good times and bad times. / In a good year, we give generously, / in a bad year, we lean on each other. / We simply love and smile.’”

Cover of the poetry collection “Another Way” (2014) by Park Nohae. [SLOW WALKING PUBLISHING]

It is this acceptance and joy that defines the people Park encountered. In “The Gait of a Kalasha Woman,” he observes: “Though they work hard in rugged terrain, they move with upright, measured steps / as if they carried the world itself, / never losing their grace.”

The poetry reveals a worldview in which poverty does not equate to misery, and hardship does not erode beauty. In “Gathered in the Yard,” a farmer’s quiet philosophy offers a counterpoint to the competitive world: “I hope my child grows up to be a Ladakh farmer. / Farming may tire the body, / but we cannot live burdened by the pain of stepping on others. / I want him to live with peace in his heart.”

The poet’s verses trace not just the people but their rituals and inner worlds. In one moment of particular serenity, he describes a girl reading among the wheat fields in “Reading While Walking Through the Wheat Fields”: “At dusk, under soft sunlight, / Nubia, 15, feeds grass to her donkey / and walks between rows of wheat reading aloud. / The scent of wildflowers, the breath of young wheat, and birdsong / blend quietly into the soundscape of her voice. / She steps into her book, reading life, reading the world, / tracing the secret words of light written inside her / with the movement of her body.”

Through these portraits, Park sketches a sacred life built not on what one owns, but on what one honors. As he writes in another poem, true creativity lies in making a rich life from the simplest things — and transforming hardship into grace remains the highest art of living.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.