One sun-struck day
The Children decide
To visit Hiroshima.

Sailing on their Boat of Songs,
They pass
The Island of Ninoshima
And embark
At the Port of Hiroshima.

Standing on the Aio-Bashi Bridge,
Over the Motoyasu-Gawa River,
Each sees
In his or her mind’s eye
Bodies in the rivers
Burning buildings
Black rain
Blinded eyes
Tormented skin.

Flashes of images …

A child
Anxiously
Bringing water
To her dead mother …

A mother
Tenderly
Carrying her lifeless child
On her back …

Standing on the Aio-Bashi Bridge,
They weep,
Imagining
All the damage to unborn children
All the lingering unexplained illnesses
All the slow deaths over the years

All caused—
in one way or another—
By the atomic bomb
Dropped
Upon the city
On the morning
Of August 6, 1945.