This past weekend was the harvest moon. It’s a time when the earth is the closest to the moon. In Korea and many other Asian cultures, it’s one of the biggest holidays. We gather to give gratitude to nature for her abundant harvest and it’s also a time where we honor our ancestors. Since immigrating to the United States, the cultural practice of celebrating Chuseok (추석) has been lost to me but this past weekend, I intentionally took the time to go outside and sit under the moon in the evening. It was glorious and felt like a homecoming. Here’s the poem that tumbled out the next morning.
The Harvest Moon
— Jeena Cho 조지현
The harvest moon. I knew her once.
Even loved her
Didn’t we dance to her song once?
Offering her our deepest gratitude
Then I forgot
This erasure wasn’t voluntary
This relocation to the land that isn’t mind
Yet, the harvest moon has made herself known
Playfully, she dances on my blanket
Wrapped around my body
She says, come back, my love
Remember
Remember your roots
I look up
she says,
let your tears fall
let the grief wash over you
let me hold your heartache
let my light heal you
Let me fill you with joy once more
And I make love to her
She graces my skin
Touching my face
I reach my hands up to the sky
And embrace her light
And I re-member
I say, Chuseok (추석), Thanksgiving
I say, Charye (차례), the honoring of the ancestors
I look at the photograph of my grandmothers
and my mother holding me as an infant
My body craves the food we once ate
Newly harvested fruit (햇과일), Songpyeon (송편), Japchae (잡채), Jeon (전), Galbijjim (갈비찜)
And I can feel the pull of my motherland
She is calling me
She says, come back to me
Come and drink my water
Lay your body against mine
Allow the ocean to wash over you
Come and breathe me
And bring me your daughter
so she too can remember