:::
Here I sit on the other side of an ocean and on the far side of North America, 73 years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs at the end of the Second World War— destroying Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945 and exploding over Nagasaki three days later on August 9. Hundreds of thousands of people, animals and other life dissolved in an instant.
Unfathomable.
On Hiroshima Memorial Day, August 6, 2018 I endeavour to expand my awareness beyond stock images of a massive mushroom cloud, the horrors of mass death and years of radiation sicknesses. I scroll through online articles grasping for nuggets of hope.
~
life returns
in a field of death
oleander
~
In 1949 the mayor of Hiroshima proclaimed his city to be a ‘City of Peace’. From there the city blossomed as a hub of memorials and advocacy for world peace and nuclear disarmament. In 2017 an International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for achieving a global agreement for banning nuclear weapons. What a concept! It has no legal force but the fact that a large number of nations agreed to ban nuclear weapons from the planet is a first step.
My third nugget of hope is that a United States President, Barack Obama, visited Japan in 2016 and spoke peaceful words of reason:
“That is the future we can choose…A future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare but as the start of our own moral awakening.”
The whole world needs to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki and recognize that mass destruction cannot resolve the world’s problems.
~
Hiroshima
shadows of steel and flesh
signify the void
~
~
©️2018 Ontheland
Well said Janice. Peace is precious. Awareness of the horrors of past wars helps us all understand that.
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Thank you, Suzanne.
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You have said it very well. Mass destruction does not ever equal peace!
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No it can’t resolve the world problem nor another war. But we can all educate ourselves and our children of the horrors of that war and that we should never again, repeat the same mistake. Thanks for joining us Janice to spread the message of peace.
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May the awareness and the vision continue.
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Yes awareness and vision are important.
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I’m undone, Janice! The beautiful poignancy of your prose, and the utter heartbreaking beauty of your haiku render me speechless. You use both to testify to the importance of awakening and the efforts by others to ensure that truly there will never be another Hiroshima. Beautiful! Thank you, Janice.
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Thank you for your kind words Frank. This was an enriching subject to write about and also to read how it’s impacted others joining in with your dVerse prompt.
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I like the inquisitive, exploratory nature of your piece.
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Thank you.
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Shadows of steels and flesh. Wow.
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The post-A-bomb shadows are heartbreaking…especially those of human beings.
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I agree. 😦
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Beautiful and deeply felt post Janice. Your gentle and yet strong Haikus, the wonderful speech by Barack Obama and the history you give us gives hope amidst the threats.
We, the people of the world do not want this, we want life.
Thank you
Miriam
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Thank you Miriam…I think you put your finger on the ultimate tragedy of the nuclear game, that ‘the people of the world don’t want this, we want life’…food, shelter, dignity, safety and so on.
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Eloquent prose and golden nuggets of hope, Janice.
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Thank you, Kim.
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I think most right-minded people would agree with you, Janice.
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Thanks Jane. I gather from your haibun that you consider hope to be unrealistic due to the power of those who would profit from war…perhaps hope is like a compass giving a direction…anyway I respect your clarity of thought and perception.
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I’m just very pessimistic about human nature, Janice. We have to hope, even when we fear it’s vain. Yes, it’s a direction for those who want to follow.
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Your words make me think and I do have that fear…though my pessimism is more about the prevalence of corrupt selfish evil human behaviour rather than about our potential to be otherwise…(and that could be more idealistic than realistic)…
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I’m not one of those people who thinks only the rich are morally bankrupt and greedy, and only the poor are violent and ignorant. You find ugliness everywhere, it’s just seems to be the pattern that the individuals who rise to the top have a more or less generous dose of all those ‘qualities’…
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I agree that people are not stereotypes based on their income. Perhaps the difference is in the types of opportunities and choices which then affect the types of crimes or immoral acts that emerge…
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That’s my feeling too. You can’t embezzle millions from the state if you work in the local sugar refinery as a packer.
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For some reason it seems that the horror of the bomb has not penetrated the mind of people yet… and it doesn’t matter as long as it is dropped somewhere else….
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the somewhere else factor is strong… and you mention the horror not penetrating… my fear is that people imagine that current nuclear warfare could be local…I don’t think that’s the case anymore (not that another local horror is at all acceptable)…
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Beautfiul haiku within this. Would that we still had a thoughtful, respectful man as president.
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hopefully one day it will happen again before it’s too late
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well done
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Thank you
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Thoughtful piece, Janice. Oh to have Obama back!!
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If only it were possible… thank you, Sara.
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Beautiful tributes of Hope and Resiliency. 😎🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
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Thank you, Dorna.
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A beautifully powerful haibun, Janice.
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Thank you, Lynn.
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