hibakusha means survivor



i. strong light



shigeko sasamor felt the very, very strong light.

shigeko sasamor can’t explain how strong it is.

very bright light.



but before the bright light, 

shigeko sasamor saw airplane drop the white thing.

then, same time, knock shigeko sasamor down, a strong wind.



then shigeko sasamor don’t know

how long shigeko sasamor was unconscious, 

but when shigeko sasamor noticed, looked around, 

shigeko sasamor couldn’t see anything, 

shigeko sasamor couldn’t hear anything, 



but just see red and black and grey.

 

ii. a dead country



so dark.

then, just like a dead country or dead place.

then, for a while shigeko sasamor’s waiting, 

just like a deep fog going away, faraway, 

the blackness, redness going away.

and then shigeko sasamor can see around the area.

 

iii. never been to hell



and that’s the time—

shigeko sasamor don’t know how to describe, 

because shigeko sasamor’d never been to hell, 

but when people say hell and heaven, that is hell.



horrible.

people wasn’t people.

just horrible horror.

 

iv. a black ball



when they find shigeko sasamor, 

they couldn’t recognize, 



because my face was like a big ball, black ball.

no eye, no eyebrow, nothing.

my hair was kinky and burned.



shigeko sasamor burned one-fourth of body, 

front half, 

both hands, 

both arms, 

neck and chest 

and whole face.



v. she’s going to die



so, while shigeko sasamor is lying down, 

people come to see shigeko sasamor

and talking to shigeko sasamor’s mother.



“is she still alive? 

is she still ok?” 

everybody thought 

shigeko sasamor’s going to die.

Pete, the horrors of war, never make sense. This one tells a personal tale of misery that cannot be erased. Leaders of nations should always be mindful of their decisions at the personal level of their citizens.

Les

Thanks for commenting, Les. I was born in 1944, so I have lived my entire life in the atomic age.

Peter