an anniversary meditation

dust motes shimmer through trees on sunbeams

I sip coffee and read Hibakusha stories

trees shake from an earthquake in the mountains

I haven’t heard damage reports, but it will be mild

_____

on the anniversary of Nagasaki I reflect

70,000 vaporized in a rush for peace

children, mothers, fathers

a Shinto shrine and Catholic church

_____

the dust plume rose 45,000 feet in morning air

drifting for days on its way to America

dust motes shimmer through trees on sunbeams

I sip coffee to wash grit from my teeth

8-9-20