Hiroshima (A sijo)
by
Debra Rose
(Age: 21)
copyright 09-13-2005
Age Rating: 10 to 127
Burnt remainders are all that's left
Scorched upon the wall,
Signatures in black shadow lines
Showed where the dead had stood.
Lovers hands burnt black on wood--
Together, following love into death.
Please read this. The Atom bomb has become an ancient weapon--which if any of you know anything about it, this is a frightening concept. Well...for this poem, you should know that when an atom bomb is dropped, the heat is so intense, it literally "burns your shadow on the wall." In truth, it's the carbons released from your body that it plasters to a wall, or a spot near you. The last two lines in this poem are about a wall that's still standing, where the outlines of two people holding hands are burnt on the wall--two lovers, moving towards each other, killed instantly when the bomb dropped, but that memory is left there.
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Debra, this is a very powerful poem. Well written, yet tragic.
I have to agree with Andrew on this topic. The US government seems to do whatever benefits them the most, yet when another country does the same, they are considered evil.
The US has backed and promoted dictatorships when it suited them, (ie. 'The Shah Of Iran') but then attacked Iraq because it had a dictatorship.
On a local level, they promoted NAFTA (so-called free-trade), then imposed huge import levies on Canadian lumber (I call this protectionism).
Each time I see the news, I see such hypocrisy in US government. It is really hard to take them seriously anymore.
I agree with Jim, though this was a tragic time in our past and I scar that is on us as a country. The images of the shadows on the wall are miraculous. When I go I only hope that I can hold my loved ones hand( I don't want her to go until its her time ) and it all be over in a nano second! This was a great write and my loss for not reading it sooner! Anthony
Debra, this is different and thought provoking to say the least. There is a lot I see in this. On the most simplistic and literal level, one senses the sadness at life and love lost in one of the worst trajedies in human history.
On a deeper level-- and one that works in a wonderfully contrary way-- I sense the beauty of a last act of love frozen in time, for all generations to later witness and admire. There's actually beauty and deep humanity here!
One cannot avoid comparing this to Keats's "Ode On a Grecian Urn" where the depiction of revelers on the urn are both timeless, yet unable to move-- essentially imprisoned-- evoking the ambiguity of what is deemed beautiful and eternal. Even the title of your work is wonderfully ambiguous-- when I think of Hiroshima now, I may just think of how lucky those lovers were to die in a moment of bliss!
Strong work!
Welcome !
