Poem: Hiroshima No Pika

Monday, January 08, 2007

First repost. Original post date: January 13, 2005.

After posting this on Myspace, it won First Place in my university's Honors Poetry Contest.

I wrote this poem about a year ago or so. I am including it here because I am about to use it as a teaching aid in my children's literature class. I am doing a project on illustrated books for children that deal with intense topics, for example the book my poem is about, which relates to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in WWII. This book affected me as a child (as the poem will show) and it is going to be a part of my presentation to the class.

HIROSHIMA NO PIKA
Story and illustrations by Toshi Maruki

I was eight years old.
Mama and I had returned
Home from the library,
The only place in the valley
That gave solace from the summer heat.
We had a heavy stack
Of picture books,
Twenty or more:
Enough to occupy
My quiet vacation moments.
Mama always chose
The most beautiful pictures
And interesting stories.
When we would curl up together,
Sometimes she would read,
Or maybe I would,
But there was magic
No matter whose voice.
I found hidden
In the middle of the pile
A slim book
With curious words
On the vivid crimson cover.
I can still remember
The peculiar title:
Hiroshima No Pika:
The Flash of Hiroshima.
Toshi Maruki, painting
With stunning shades,
Told the story of a little girl
Just my age, named Mii.
Her world began as luscious green,
But with a flare of radiance,
Became vivid reds,
Gloomy grays,
Scorched, naked flesh,
Noises unbearable and scary.
I couldn’t understand how light
Might be painful
Like Mii said it was.
My mother read to me,
And had to explain
The details that were left out.
Once I realized how many
Children became lanterns
Floating down Motoyasu River
Towards the Inland Sea,
Once I understood that light
Can sear off skin,
Make limbs disappear,
Teeth fall out,
Make shadows tangible shapes
On whatever walls remained,
I hid
The book under the couch,
Facedown,
For fear of stumbling on it,
Knocking its bright covers open
To some scarlet page
Overflowing with soot-
Covered children,
Cowering,
Burning too fast to cry.

Posted at 11:26 AM | Permalink

Comments

[this is good] Wow. I especially love the lines "Once I realized how many/ Children became lanterns". I did a book report on Enola Gay in 6th grade and was marked forever by it. It is the story of one of the pilots, but the horror and terror of Hiroshima hit me profoundly. This is a fabulous poem and well-deserving of awards. You should consider being part of the Vox Lit Liberation Front.

Posted by: electric firefly | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 11:40 AM

Thank you for your kind words. I will join the Liberation, and put you in my neighborhood. Reading this book gave me an obsessive interest in the Japanese bombings and nuclear war in general. Actually, I should say that the obsessive interest was almost masochistic: I was terrified about what I was reading, but I couldn't stop. I've read accounts from the men on the Enola Gay, and have been floored, time and again, by their harrowing narratives.

Posted by: Sara | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 11:45 AM

I am inexplicable perturbed by the phrase "a flare of radiance", but other than that minor quibble I approve of this poem.

*stamps poem "approved"*

Posted by: Kevin Wolf | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 12:26 PM

Hmmm. I've never noticed that before. "Flare of radiance" is redundant and rather sucky. How can I improve that?

Posted by: Sara | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 01:17 PM

I don't know...

The problem, for me, I think, is that the phrase seems show-offy. Rather than just writing, "a flash of light", you wrote "a flare of radiance", and while they both mean the same thing, the simpler phrase holds more power. However, I understand that this is poetry, not prose, and "flash of light" is, as a phrase, a cliche.

Basically, I can't help you. Poetry isn't what I do well. I just know that it bugged me.

I like it a lot apart from that one tiny thing.

Posted by: Kevin Wolf | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 01:27 PM

I am going to have to ponder this overnight, at least, I think.

But thanks for bringing it to my attention.

And for liking it anyway. :)

Posted by: Sara | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 01:52 PM

[this is good] Very moving imagery. Thanks for sharing your gift.

Posted by: Tim | Monday, January 08, 2007 at 02:00 PM

SWEET.

Posted by: Mathilde | Friday, January 19, 2007 at 07:40 PM

[this is good] Great poem! It really creates compassion and consternation. And I think this will happen also when teenagers read this poem who sometimes have not heared of Hiroshima or Nagasaki before. As I'm going to be a teacher and we are doing a webquest about Japan I wanted to know, if it would be possible to use this poem.

Posted by: Patricia | Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 02:38 AM

Hi Patricia. Yes, you may use this poem if you like. Please PM me about it.

Posted by: Sara | Thursday, January 17, 2008 at 10:58 AM

[this is good] Hi! Such a great poem! I read it on my podcast (http://olivertwistor.libsyn.com). I hope that's okay. I linked back here in my show notes.

Posted by: oliver_twistor | Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 04:55 AM

[this is good] I really like your poem.

Posted by: Kevin S. Clarke | Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 03:44 PM

[this is good] ] I really like your poem. I went
to Hiroshima in junior high school (over a summer) and I remember the
shock/awareness that the shadows on the buildings were from people.
The part about light searing off skin and leaving these shadows is very
moving and also an image/experience I remember from my trip. Thanks
for publishing your poem. It really resonates with me.

Posted by: Kevin S. Clarke | Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 03:46 PM

hey people great blog
The part about light searing off skin and leaving these shadows is very
moving and also an image/experience I remember from my trip. Thanks
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Posted by: Petter | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 01:23 PM

in the book "Hiroshima" written by John Hersey, John presents the terrible effects that the atomic bomb had on the civilians of Hiroshima. What results of the bomb were the most devastating? Please use examples from the entire book. Thank You

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Posted by: olekitka007 | Thursday, February 04, 2010 at 03:49 AM

After six months of intense strategic fire-bombing of 67 Japanese cities the Hirohito regime ignored an ultimatum given by the Potsdam Declaration. By executive order of President Harry S. Truman the U.S. dropped the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed by the detonation of "Fat Man" over Nagasaki on August 9. These are the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.

Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. The Hiroshima prefectural health department estimates that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness. A plausible estimate of the total immediate and short term cause of death, 15–20% died from radiation sickness, 20–30% from flash burns, and 50–60% from other injuries, compounded by illness. online pharmacy Since then, more have died from leukemia (231 observed) and solid cancers (334 observed) attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Poem: Hiroshima No Pika

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