Through my camera lens
I heard the roar
of Israel and Palestine
ever present, in the desert and in the city
I hoped
to gaze at the presence of the land
without being affected by its accumulated sorrow and desires
without adding my personal thoughts,
like the silence of an olive tree
rooted through long histories
But I realized
that I was seeing
not the land but my own mind,
and knew it was time to leave
Jungjin Lee
December 2011