Vincent O'Sullivan, 'Hiroshima'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Cross-post from war_poetry:

Hiroshima

The most famous shadow in the world
is the fastest ever made.

The most ordinary of mornings
is the quickest disposed of.

The second hands on the frozen watches
the most accurate of all.

There are speeches, there are prayers.
The seminars and the journalese are endless

on their way to that purest glamour,
the sun close as a mirror while a city shaves.

Light, which is god and father,
Shadow, which is mystery and image,

where have you gone, words, things, we favoured?
You are too close together. You do not exist.

by Vincent O'Sullivan