Frank J. Tassone hosts haibuns at dVerse Poets on Hiroshima Day, 2018.
Hiroshima Memorial Ceremony
Reading a thin volume, Hiroshima, in high school, I experienced the mushrooming disturbance to our world. Horror, regret, tragedy and fear seared my mind as images of devastation burned into my imagination. An unthinkable calculation dropped this surreal weapon of ghastly power on unsuspecting civilians.
Visiting Pearl Harbor as an adult, I attempted to understand the whys of warfare. An over-reaching dictator and ultra-ambitious military attacked unsuspecting soldiers, provoking enmity. Havoc, death and destruction ensued, trailing a bloody wake across the “Pacific” (sadly ironic) theater.
Until it finally ended with not one, but two, atomic bombs. Who fully realized the fallout of unleashing such force? Acts of war escalate exponentially, beyond all expectations of reasonable retaliation. Let ugly history be our strict teacher and awful memory be our future deterrence.
land of rising sun
lanterns floating on water
lit with hopes for peace
a poem in my pocket 
Aug 08, 2018 @ 21:59:38
kaykuala
Acts of war escalate exponentially,
beyond all expectations of reasonable retaliation
Very true Lynn! There is no stopping once the challenge breaks out with a retaliation!
Hank
Aug 09, 2018 @ 07:08:26
We need to somehow defuse fights! Thanks for your comment, Hank.
Aug 08, 2018 @ 20:01:47
Let us learn from our history and not commit the same path again. Thanks Lynn for sharing the message of peace.
Aug 08, 2018 @ 20:28:59
We must pass the peace along…
Aug 08, 2018 @ 06:42:36
A beautiful and poignant meditation on the folly and horror of war in the nuclear age. I like how you trace your first impressions of the bombing and then lead us through the harsh lesson of Pearl Harbor: war escalates violence well beyond “proportional response”. Your closing haiku offers a glimpse of hope to complement the prose. Well done, Lynn. Thank you.
Aug 08, 2018 @ 06:50:01
It is good to reconsider historical events and the realities of war…hopefully to avoid future escalations!
Aug 08, 2018 @ 06:52:45
Indeed. Thanks, again, for sharing! 😀