The Heart of Gureombi

By: Larry Kerschner

The Heart of Gureombi
​
never stopping for a million years
Yong Wang, Dragon King of the sea
breathed the tide twice daily
across the solid volcanic rim
hardened like glass

between the land and the sea
after the winter snow
spring rains become
rivulets running down the sides
of Halla-san
flowing beneath the fragrant tangerine trees
across and under the kilometer of gray Gureombi rock
here and there fresh-water springs appear
medicine from the ancestors
shapeless water rejoins shapeless sea

here is something that is true
completely without understanding
but with bitterness in their mouths
in their delusion
that they must be in control
that control requires a shattering
dark forces only think that they have crushed
the heart of Gureombi
with their rock smashing machines
moving in robotic rhythm
inhuman slow dance to the imperial tune

those who say resistance is futile
have no understanding of the heart

look down from Halla-san
see the Island of the Gods
the Island of Peace

the heart of the sea resides in the people
the heart of Gureombi resides in the people
the heart of Gureombi resides in Oh Cheol Geun's three steps
the heart of Gureombi resides in the fasts of Yang Yoon Mo -- Prisoner #301
the heart of Gureombi resides in Kim Young-Jue --Prisoner #435
the heart of Gureombi resides in Lee Jong-Hwa -- Prisoner #125
the heart of Gureombi resides in the eucharistic resistance of Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon
the heart of Gureombi resides in the women who dive daily into water as dense as blindness
the heart of Gureombi lies in remembering the laughter of  Fr. Bill Bichsel
the heart of Gureombi lives in all those who feel the wind  that is blowing
the heart of Gureombi lives in those who know that many things are unthinkable until they happen

those who say resistance is futile
have no understanding of the heart

look down from Halla-san
see the Island of the Gods
the Island of Peace
the heart of the sea resides in the people
the heart of Gureombi resides in the people
the heart of Gureombi resides in Oh Cheol Geun's three steps

one hundred songs
one hundred expectations
one hundred bows bring the light each morning
one hundred bows contain the heart of Gureombi

who can tell what this political cancer of our time will become in the future
we know that Samsung and Hyundai are just gray stones--falling fragments in history

waters will continue to rise and fall

in three billion years the last sunset will occur

what might love have done
if we had figured out in time
what love's got to do with it
​

---

Larry Kerschner

Born November 17, 1946 in Seattle one of eleven children.  Educated in Catholic grade school and high school.  Drafted into the Army Summer 1967.  Spent 14 months in the Infantry in Vietnam.  Spent 35 years as a registered Nurse--last 25 years as Family Nurse Practitioner in rural communities.  Began writing poetry as a child and has been intermittently writing since. Politically active with Veterans For Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action and Pacific Life Community.  

Blog:  www.livejournal.com/~larrywrites

​Chapbooks: Promises (1988);  Memories (1989); Voices in the Wilderness (2000); Reflections on Fasting for the People of Iraq (2001); ); U.S. Military Diplomacy: From Wounded Knee to Afghanistan (2001); Transforming the Anesthesia (2007);  Iraq Memorial to Life (2009); Family (2019); Jampa as Poet Mujahid (2019); Other Eyes: Translations of Poems by Larry Kerschner (2019); To Those Who Know It Not (2019)  

Books: Graves Lines (2013); Letters to the Editor 1998-2001(2013); Rimed Love (2014); Poems,      New and Used (2016); George Washington, Founder of Centralia (2018); Grotesque Arms (2019); (Grave Lines and Letters to the Editor 1998-2001 are available in Kindle format)

Poems published in: Kickass Review; National Catholic Reporter; Crab Creek Review; Drama Garden; Half Drunk Muse; Voices in Wartime; Outsiders writers; Peace in Our Times; The Veteran  and a number of online sites.


3681 Cooks Hill Road
Centralia WA 98531
360-880-4741
​peacepoet@gmail.com