Hiroshima Delirium

An Open Poem to a Shinto Grandpa Name of Harry
Grandpa Harry, I did not cause Hiroshima,
As you thought in 1951,
When the Trickster told you that I was the mother of
Sir Isaac Newton and he was the cause of the nuclear
Explosion confusion--
Which caused such profound suffering and harm to women
You loved that you decided to torture me for a lifetime.
I know that the horror of that day palls all other horrible
Events in the history of Mankind.
It seeped into me through the floor from a hole,
In the memories of some nurse at the time, a witness
On the USS Hope in Tokyo Harbor later that day.
Where victims who died could not truly end their
Nervous systems screaming,
running to the waters of the Tokyo Bay to wash the skin
where lymph nodes were streaming fluid and pus
There to ease pains, over and over, their bodies
Melted crayons,
causing such trauma in Harry, living Japanese at the time,
that he never forgot.
Sorrow at the loss of his girlfriends
To lose good will, forgiveness to the USA or
Mercy to others until the airbag Takota scandal
Woke the nurse up to make peace again.
I did not cause Hiroshima but lost you as a friend
There and then, Grandpa.

– Mary Khazak Grant, 2/6/24 in Rochester, NY, USA