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emily-k-okitaPoems
August Sixth Emily Okita I. Little Boy Fat Man fell into red ocean Walking ghosts Where’s mother? Grave of Fireflies Tiny flames consume everything Infrastructure destroyed Infernal windows to the end of the line Burning, Screaming, Lights out II. Keiko-chan City of Death Miles from Ground Zero The River A baby nursing in a blistered mother’s arms A man cradling his eye in one hand A friend trapped under her home A mother, her headless child on her back A neighbor, belly open, intestines spilling III. Keiko-chan, I ran away from my sisters as they called out for help Keiko-chan, disease X Specimen ABC Study for long-term effects of radiation disease 120,000 One day a year Doctor would inspect me It changed after my twelfth birthday Keiko-chan, stand up on stage and take off your gown Wide room with bright lights Doctors, different languages A doctors’ meeting “You’re turning into a woman, Keiko-chan.” Why am I naked? Why do I have to show myself in front of these doctors? Purple spots, hair loss, bruises, swelling I cannot tell my mother, my father No one. I’m alone. IV. August 6, 1945 A war I did not start Mushroom clouds, shock waves stabbed me A Beautiful Invention Genocidal Physics
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Oct 8, 2010
Oct 8, 2010 at 7:54 PM UTC
August 6
August Sixth Emily Okita I. Little Boy Fat Man fell into red ocean Walking ghosts Where’s mother? Grave of Fireflies Tiny flames consume everything Infrastructure destroyed Infernal windows to the end of the line Burning, Screaming, Lights out II. Keiko-chan City of Death Miles from Ground Zero The River A baby nursing in a blistered mother’s arms A man cradling his eye in one hand A friend trapped under her home A mother, her headless child on her back A neighbor, belly open, intestines spilling III. Keiko-chan, I ran away from my sisters as they called out for help Keiko-chan, disease X Specimen ABC Study for long-term effects of radiation disease 120,000 One day a year Doctor would inspect me It changed after my twelfth birthday Keiko-chan, stand up on stage and take off your gown Wide room with bright lights Doctors, different languages A doctors’ meeting “You’re turning into a woman, Keiko-chan.” Why am I naked? Why do I have to show myself in front of these doctors? Purple spots, hair loss, bruises, swelling I cannot tell my mother, my father No one. I’m alone. IV. August 6, 1945 A war I did not start Mushroom clouds, shock waves stabbed me A Beautiful Invention Genocidal Physics
Written by
emily-k-okita
Japanese
Oct 8, 2010
Oct 8, 2010 at 7:54 PM UTC
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