Renga for Japan [Poem]
16 May
It was when I had
Just got home early from work,
My old man saying
Japan’s getting it I turned
Around to watch the box and
It was getting it
The pictures were live how strange
I thought watching it
Where this grey mouthed alien
Was now swallowing Japan
In real time I thought
To myself it’s like Manga
But that wasn’t smart
Or funny to say it out
Loud with no more Samurai
Boats were just too small
To resist and I thought of
All those pretty prints
That huge wave with its white curls
Striated and blue lines you know
The great Tsunami
Kanagawa, Hokusai
Such a rare view point
Not a wide mouthed Animé
Nightmare consuming
I saw the good news
A dog rescued from a roof
Radiation free
But now the days pass
Water claims a victory
Over man’s progress
I’m finding it hard to write
Or even mention the theft
Of whole villages
The thousands of lives stolen
How can I say this
Daring to whisper of those
Traces, once upon a time
There’s poison settling
But I hear its safe for now
No snow for children to play
There’s this shaded emptiness
Over the ants that scurry.
Text: © J. L. Nash, 2011
Submitted by: Jane Nash
Originally published in The Pandorian