Eight A-Bomb Haiku

The desert glowed
brighter than a thousand suns —
everything changed

Japan was clearly
defeated … still the A-bombs
found their targets

The A-bombs killed
and maimed massively —
mostly civilians

Hiroshima —
city of a thousand cranes
calls out for peace

Nagasaki —
may you be the last victim
of an A-bomb attack

For every hibakusha
many must obey, many
must remain silent

Those first A-bombs —
small by today’s measure
of insanity

The mournful sounds
of the shakuhachi
take one’s breath away