aug /6 /1945, hiroshima

by normal

“when you look back there is always the past
even when it has vanished” — w.s. merwin

that day something happened
that day it ended
that day it began
the skies turned red, then white
the earth trembled.
from that day forward, a boy
as an old man, would remember
floating ashes.
from that day forward, a girl
as an old woman, would remember
scorched fruit hung on dead trees.
on that day forward, a single man,
not yet born, secretly smiled,
knowing he had the power to make
the whole world weep.