Reflective and History-Based Poetry

Remembering the People of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

An ode to forgotten, missing people: let bells ring for peace

A landscape picture of Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, Japan. It is a famous red landmark. There are mountains in the background. The sky is cloudy. The poem on this page is about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | Photo courtesy: Travelook App, Pexels

I don’t think there is anything more frightening than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The violent destruction of those two cities brought a new set of fears around the world. For decades, countries have tiptoed around wielding immense power — the power to erase whole villages, obliterate family lines, and massively kill or mutate wildlife.

Violence has reared its ugly head in many different ways since those bombs were dropped. We have as humans avoided nuking another place into smithereens, but we’ve had a long list of wars, conflicts, genocides, and terror attacks that have totaled large numbers.

It’s important to remember how easily things can change and not to take life for granted. Everything can fall apart in seconds.

I decided to write a poem about the aftermath of those horrible bombs, an ode to all the missing people. This poem is designed to help people reflect on the real danger of extreme and over-the-top weapons. I’ve added hints of lore and symbols from different cultures and contexts to open this poem to a wide audience.