In the quiet hallways of time
we hear what people have built—
frail things, yet standing,
raised by breath and need,
offering a moment’s shelter
against the wide emptiness.

Life moves with a steady courage,
plain and exposed.
Honesty turns its edge inward
and leaves its mark.
Grace shows itself briefly,
like a coal that still remembers fire.

Bach is playing somewhere.
Kyrie eleison.
Four voices enter one by one,
not competing,
only answering each other.
The sopranos rise,
altos hold the middle ground,
tenors carry their ache,
basses keep the promise of weight.

It is the start of a new year.
Shadows have not left us.
But love does not shout.
It speaks softly,
as it always has.

Not skill,
not clever making,
but the simple heart of living
keeps time—
beating moment by moment,
breakable,
and somehow enough.

– TaeHun Yoon