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[we/they]

[we/ ] bombed them, because [ /they] bombed us.
a star falls on someone else’s city because it’s just a shooting star.

Poetry | Hiroshima, Poetry Tuesday
July 6, 2021

“Please rest in peace, for [we/they] shall not repeat the error.”
— Hiroshima Memorial Cenotaph

[we/ ] bombed them, because [ /they] bombed us.

a star falls on someone else’s city because it’s just a shooting star.

the flash was hotter than the surface of the sun.

little boy in camo mouths saved lives and believes.

teacher smiles. [ /they] gift a star sticker for a job well done.

a reward for killing without using hands.

the rest of us practice by watching the evening news.

shock and awe.

was that a siren or a wail.

i learned that mushroom clouds grow erect in both directions.

are [we/ ] a siren or a wail.

little boy in camo deepens his voice as wails die out.

he saves his sticker under his uniform.

[we/ ] bombed you, because you bombed us.

from his plane, he decorates the sky with shooting stars.