모르다
mo-reu-da
Korean 'moreuda' is not absence — it is an empty slot
The picture You open the drawer in your head and that one square is blank white, so your hand gropes at air. moreuda is that slot in your head sitting empty; alda is the same slot filled.
Where the picture shows up in 모르다
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The fact slot is blank
죄송해요, 저도 길을 몰라요.
joe-song-hae-yo, jeo-do gi-reul mol-la-yo
Sorry, I don't know this street either.
The map is open and exactly that patch is blank white
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The name tag is blank
그분은 제가 모르는 사람이에요.
geu-bu-neun je-ga mo-reu-neun sa-ra-mi-e-yo
I've never met him.
The face is perfectly clear but the name tag beside it is empty
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The certainty slot is blank
오후에 비가 올지도 몰라요.
o-hu-e bi-ga ol-ji-do mol-la-yo
It might rain this afternoon.
Looking up at the sky, a hand hovering over the umbrella, not deciding
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The body cannot find the motion
저는 수영은 할 줄 몰라요.
jeo-neun su-yeong-eun hal jul mol-la-yo
I never learned to swim.
Standing at the water's edge, feet in, unable to go further
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Words arrive and scatter
무슨 말인지 모르겠어요.
mu-seun ma-rin-ji mo-reu-ge-sseo-yo
I don't follow what you mean.
The words get in the ear but fall apart before taking shape in the head
All of it in one picture
moreuda is the picture of reaching for a slot and finding it blank. A white patch on the map is not knowing the way; an empty name tag beside a clear face is not knowing a person. A square that stays blank even while you look at the sky is it might rain, a body that cannot find the motion is not knowing how, and words that scatter before settling is not following what was said.