That August morning, 1945
I tumble out of bed
Look out the window
Then the sky turns red.
A blinding light, a white light
Roof tiles, falling all around.
I float through the air
Like an astronaut.
The world turns upside down
Day becomes night
Darkness, nothingness
The only sound is the wind.
Then a noise like mosquitoes
A buzzing, a humming.
Only now do I see them –
Ghosts walking up the hill
from Hiroshima below.
Hands held aloft
Skin peeling off
Wet flesh, red flesh
The stench too much to bear.
Smells like squid, cooking.
They draw closer
Drove after drove of living dead.
‘Water, we need water,” they
Beg. So I give them
The dregs from the well.
If the dead can die again
As I quenched their thirsts
They did.
A child as I was then
I thought I’d killed them
But my parents told me
No, girl. The devil had.
He’d laughed so much that day
Tears streamed down his face
And fell as poisoned rain.
My tears long-since dried
Yet still I feel to blame.
Sixty three years on
My guilt remains.
And my penance –
the kimono I was wearing.
Red dragons breathing fire
Its pattern etched upon my skin.
Such is my legacy. Such is humanity’s.
Comments
Nathan Bednarek | September 25, 2008 - 00:00
Wow, quite powerful. This poem is a slap in the face. Good work Tina. I need a breather now. Quite a lung-crusher this one is. ;-)
Nathan.
Silver Spun Sand | September 25, 2008 - 08:07
Thank you for reading, Nathan. Not an easy read nor an easy write, come to that.
There was a 1989 Japanese film called 'Kuroi Ame'(Black Rain)directed by Shohei Imamura, based on the novel of the same name by Ibuse Masuji. The events are centered on the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Both are chilling and both stark reminders of those two 'black' days and their legacy.
Tina
Myndstorm | September 25, 2008 - 16:10
all i can say is wow.. it evokes the same emotions in me i felt after i read the book Hiroshima. it scared the hell out of me then and it does now... great work.
Silver Spun Sand | September 25, 2008 - 17:15
Few of us can envisage this nightmarish situation.
After dropping 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima, why did they then, three days later, drop a second nuclear bomb, 'Fat Man' on Nagasaki. It makes about us much sense to me as dropping the first one, or indeed, war itself.
My sincere thanks to you for reading.
Tina
MistakenMagic | September 25, 2008 - 19:18
Truly exploiting the powers of poetry Tina! Gosh, the imagery the words envoke, a moving tribute to those who suffered in Hiroshima - strange how this poem can be so beautiful even though it is about something totally the opposite!
Silver Spun Sand | September 26, 2008 - 07:40
Magic - my thanks to you for reading. Not an easy subject to write about or read come to that. I learned much about many things whilst researching this poem but the thing that hit me most was the courage of the survivors of these atrocities. I felt I owed it to them to tell their story.
As Helen Keller said,
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Tina
WilkyBarKid | September 26, 2008 - 09:24
Hi Tina,
I hope you don't mind me picking on one small point, but I was bothered by the use of the word 'astronaut'.
I guess it may have been used by someone looking back on their experiences in later years, but it seems anachronistic in context and removes some of the immediacy of the scene.
Silver Spun Sand | September 26, 2008 - 11:35
Do you know - I was in a real dilemma about this. As I explained, I researched long and hard, reading different eye-witness accounts and the word 'astronaut' was how this particular witness described his experience, years later. A rather effective way, I considered, of describing what must have been then, especially to a child, a totally out of this world feeling.
Thank you for your interest and for sharing your thoughts.
Tina