The Scoop
The Korean Bell
By Mimi Herrmann
A young girl stands there at the gate of the sea
There are tears in her eyes, and tears in her voice
There's something about her that cries out to me
She seems at the cusp of a difficult choice
Her eyes on the sky and her hand at her breast
She opens her mouth to petition the swell
The waves all steel-grey flow in out of the West
As she stands all alone by the Korean Bell.
She stands by the Bell and she looks out to sea
Calling "Santa Catalina won't you send my love to me!"
There's a voice on the wind, but its words I can't tell
By the Korean Bell.
She's only a child, this young waif on the cliff
She can't know the sorrow that life often brings
She's too young to die and too young to have lived
Yet her tears tell the story, the words her voice sings
I'm moved to say something, I want her to know
She's not all alone in the wind and the spray
I cannot come closer, and yet I can't go
As she cries out I close my eyes and start to pray
She stands by the Bell and she looks out to sea
Crying "Santa Catalina won't you grant some peace to me!"
I can hear a response, but just what I can't tell
By the Korean Bell.
The sound of the waves and the sound of the Bell
All rhythmic and solemn and dark like a dirge
I think this must be what it sounds like in Hell
And the girl takes a step so she stands on the verge
It is too late to shout; it is too late to cry
Just a step, just a slip, just a falling from grace
By the Bell I'm transfixed and left wondering why
Out of mind, out of time, out of words, out of space
I stand by the Bell and I look out to sea
Praying "Santa Catalina won't you send her back to me!"
There's a voice on the wind, but its words I can't tell
By the Korean Bell.
In the dark of the year I come back to the sea
There are tears in my eyes, and tears in my heart
Something about her still cries out to me
I can't understand, but that isn't my part.
I stand by the Bell and I look out to sea
Praying "Santa Catalina won't you send my child to me!"
No answer returns from Heaven or Hell
Or from the Korean Bell.