atomic garden
by Nikko

dressed in paper white and pink
restless schoolchildren and old cherry trees
surround us in the peace park


tiny ears and eyes open like blossoms
bending to the tender voice of the guide
stones rattle in our hearts


among themselves brown sparrows
quarrel for scattered seeds a baby
rabbit trembles


as we tremble now for you laid
belly-down in a hollow under the bald
moon
face boiled empty and pocketed scars
Hiroshima
stopped like a watch


through ashes a grandmother
carried her burden
a furushuki of bones


she brought her daughter back
wrapped like a gift
some parents found only buttons


all night the children swim
searching for innocence
under the lid of a dreamless lake