Destroyer of Worlds

A letter from a German god,

Did bring new players to the game;

Their moral thoughts we now think odd,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

Dreamt up by thinkers in their labs,

As a new way to kill and maim;

No one to question, or keep tabs,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

A naval base named for a jewel,

Presented a chance to proclaim:

That keeping this war on was cruel,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

Enola Gay took to the skies,

With Bockscar also taking aim;

Their cargo bore the stench of lies,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

When Little Boy and Fat Man fell,

Their death came like Autumnal rain;

But hotter than the depths of hell,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

Now I have become death, he said,

As Oppenheimer took the blame;

Three hundred thousand people dead,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

Hiroshima was first to fall,

Then Nagasaki felt the flame;

As death encompassed one and all,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

Their Shadows burnt into the road,

Manhattan hang your head in shame;

For the new face of war had showed,

And nothing now would be the same.

 

But history fell like a veil,

And now our children read their name

As nothing more than a detail,

And nothing now would be the same.

This is a Kyrielle, written about the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2, and written for Remembrance Day.

An audio version of this poem can be heard here.