A Stone for Peace

Tramway granite from near Aioi Bridge

target of first atomic bomb

on Hiroshima City

6 August 1945 8:15am

stone stayed

silk burned

odor of charred meat or burning hair

I took note of this at the Vatican Museum

A Stone for Peace

from Hiroshima

displayed on the wall

carved into stone is Kannon

Goddess of Mercy

who prays for eternal peace

_______________

dVerse prompt on war— in 1991, 188 slabs were individually hand carved to be distributed by Stone for Peace Association of Hiroshima.

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A Stone for Peace

Remember Ground Zero

To remember, is not to forget.  The place in Hiroshima, ground zero.  The place in Nagasaki, ground zero.  Sometimes referred to as the hypocenter.  The place where the bomb lands.

For Hiroshima, the hypocenter of the attack was Shima Hospital, 800 feet away from the intended aiming point at Aioi Bridge.  Now there are smarter bombs.  Are any more deadly?

unleashed on the world

weapons of mass destruction

will it ever end

Remember Ground Zero

Remember the Day

My dad was on Okinawa when the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima.  He was a young sailor and rarely talked about his being there.  I never saw a photo taken there.  His wife was waiting in Iowa.  His children were future “boomers” after he came home.

In school I read about the war crimes.  About concentration camps and scientific experiments.  My short essay on “the mushroom cloud” over Hiroshima won a money prize.  Life went on for everyone except the ones who died.  

hear the winter wind

acid rain falling for days

folds night on the land

Remember the Day