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.
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
wordshophop 