hiroshima

something for school

morning quiet and a blinding flash
unseated and in ruins
disoriented and disquieted
flames climb in a race with fear

staggered footsteps in bewildered search
weak cries under heavy debris
hand in hand, lost and unknowing
fellow travellers, scorched and shaking

hurried meeting in the street
scurried shuffle to safety zone
hundreds of bleeding, weeping and burnt
doctors overworked and hobbling

news from rushing friends
the whole city has fallen
What happened?
damage beyond comprehension

demolished buildings and burnt roads
the city now crushed, charred and flooded
body count further than the eye can roam
hospitals crawling with patients crawling

ashes where artworks once hung
unseeing eye and un-tasting  tongue
hate exhausted, forgiven sin
hope exhausted, dripping skin

 

melting lips murmuring muffled cries for help
raw digits scrambling in the rubble, mourning fingerprints
where great buildings once stood, now are shells
comprehension, sanity from grasp it slips

once-dancing feet now slid for purchase on the broken ground
children dragging satchels and bodies
over-crowded and equally damaged, the parks where the injured were bound
forgotten lay photo albums, possessions and money

burned into the retina, a tableau of dead
burned into the memory, breathless loved ones
so many prayers, rushed or left unsaid
faith left with the dying, work to be done

quickly without energy and losing the hold on life
so many lay slain or hurt
thousands felled by one flashing light
scorched, broken or much worse