HERE AND NOW

Gangjeong village on Jeju Island

The starkness of the times
causing even old warriors
to fall
the suffering can be a load
even on the strongest

For many moons our people
have struggled to survive
been through hell
and back
but we are here

Now

Many of us have fallen
victim to the hype, the pretense,
the flim-flam man,
and the desire to just
be one of the crowd

That's OK

It's just time to move on
to get serious about dealing
with our present
here and now

Feel the spiritual connection
to our relatives,
that is real,
the two-leggeds,
the four-leggeds, the things
that fly, the things that swim,
the water, the air, the earth

All our relatives

We must struggle,
crawl, dribble,
snort, swear, and swim
in order to protect
the future generations
who cry out to us
in our sleep.

Here we are now.....