In the old days a poet once said

In the old days a poet once said 
our nation is destroyed
yet the mountains and rivers survive

Today's poet says
the mountains and rivers are destroyed
yet our nation survives

Tomorrow's poet will say
the mountains and rivers are destroyed
our nation is destroyed and Alas!
you and I are completely destroyed

From Flowers of a Moment by Ko Un. English language translation copyright © 2006 by Brother Anthony, Young-moo Kim, and Gary Gach. Used by permission of BOA Editions, Ltd.