[x]

deviantART

 

Little Man's Granddaughter by ~CWnerd12:iconCWnerd12:

Categories Literature > Poetry > General Poetry > Open


Little Man's Granddaughter

The stories go like this:
If America had not dropped The Bomb,
millions more would have died;
and the war ended quickly, neatly.
If you fold one thousand paper cranes,
the kami will grant your wish.

You didn’t die in the explosion,
but The Bomb killed you:
ten years later, you lie in your hospital bed,
weakened feeble hands folding, folding, folding…
each orizuru bringing you closer to one thousand,
but you died too soon.
Back in America, my father was being born.

I stare at the portrait of my grandfather,
in his U.S. Air Force uniform,
interrupting medical school and leaving his wife
to fight a war that the Kamikaze blew over him.
He survived.
I was born.

Can you forgive me for living?
I owe my existence to each shadow burned into the sidewalk,
every clock eternally fixed on 8:15,
thousands incinerated in one ripping flash,
to Hiroshima’s lingering radiation
sickness, cancer, leukemia,
to mushroom clouds blossoming
in the lonely American desert,
to Soviets parading their warheads through Red Square.
duck and cover, duck and cover…
I am healthy.  I live a good life.

If I knew origami,
I would fold you new bones
of the most beautiful chiyogami
a new paper heart
and give you my blood
but I don’t even know how to fold a crane.
©2008-2009 ~CWnerd12
Details
Submitted: January 29, 2008
File Size: 1.6 KB
Image Size: 0 bytes
Resolution: 0×0
Comments: 16
Favourites & Collections: 2 [who?]

Views
Total: 96
Today: 0

Downloads
Total: 0
Today: 0

Thumb

Author's Comments

Inspired by "Fireflies" by Yunyu and the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Sadako was a little girl who lived in Hiroshima. The bomb fell when she was two, and she survived, bt she died of leukemia (the atomic bomb disease) when she was twelve. Upon learning that she was sick, she tried to follow the old Japanese belief that if you fold one thousand paper cranes (orizuru), the gods (kami) will grant your wish.

In case you don't know already, my granddad was an American fighter pilot in the South Pacific during WW2. He made it back to become a successful and well-respected surgeon and have six kids, my father among them.

So I guess in a wierd way I owe my existance to The Bomb. Yeah, really wierd philosphical can of worms there. What do you all think?
[x]

Devious Comments

love 0 0 joy 0 0 wow 0 0 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0

Comments


~Mimisaurus:iconMimisaurus: Jan 29, 2008, 10:27:30 PM
Agreed. Seconded. I owe mine to the bomb as well. O.o

It's beautiful.

--
I am Jack's raging bile duct.
I am Jack's cold sweat.
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
I am Jack's smirking revenge.
I am Jack's wasted life.
I am Jack's inflamed sense of rejection.
I am Jack's broken heart.
I am Jack's @w@.
*chugglepuff:iconchugglepuff: Jan 30, 2008, 3:59:46 PM
Stunning. So many great ideas in this.

The only line that didn't work for me was "and a the war ended quickly, neatly." For a start, I don't think you need "a" as well as "the". ;P Because this leads on from your description of what would have happened, it kind of sounded as though the war would've ended neatly if they hadn't dropped the bomb. I just think it could be clearer if you had a semi-colon at the end of the previous line and got rid of "and" at the beginning of this line, or you could write "it ended the war quickly, neatly", possibly. :shrug:

I loved the 2nd and 4th stanzas best, especially "Can you forgive me for living?/ I owe my existence to each shadow burned into the sidewalk,/ every clock eternally fixed on 8:15". In a way these lines remind me of Christianity, with the idea that we're born sinful and need to apologise... (yeah, I draw weird links from things ^^;) The whole link to origami and the idea of folding new bones is superb, as is the idea that everyone really owes their lives to numerous atrocities in the past that have shaped the world that made us who we are... Fantastic.

--
A stitch in time mucks up the space-time continuum.

Clicking this link will give you superpowers*.

*May just be a very sneaky way to make you look at my page. But probably not.
~CWnerd12:iconCWnerd12: Jan 30, 2008, 5:29:29 PM
thanks for the advice!

--
"Falsehood can hold out against much in this world, but not against art." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

LOOK AT MY BLOG, BITCH!!!!! [link] :typerhappy:
~theonlyRedBaroness:icontheonlyRedBaroness: Jan 30, 2008, 8:40:11 PM
Little Man was the other bomb.

Pretty neat - but is that "a" in there a typo?

--
+Red Baroness+

"Where are my minions? I was promised minions!"

Propheads and Jetjockeys:[link]
~CWnerd12:iconCWnerd12: Jan 30, 2008, 8:43:02 PM
yeah, it's a typo. I should fix that.

Little Man makes sense....

--
"Falsehood can hold out against much in this world, but not against art." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

LOOK AT MY BLOG, BITCH!!!!! [link] :typerhappy:
~theonlyRedBaroness:icontheonlyRedBaroness: Jan 31, 2008, 8:30:03 PM
Yep. You can wiki it - it would show up. But I has a giant bbrrraaaaain.

Yeah. Mistress of All Trivia Useless. XD

--
+Red Baroness+

"Where are my minions? I was promised minions!"

Propheads and Jetjockeys:[link]
~CWnerd12:iconCWnerd12: Jan 31, 2008, 8:43:34 PM
you're my one-stop shop for all things Luftwaffe, too! :nod:

--
"Falsehood can hold out against much in this world, but not against art." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

LOOK AT MY BLOG, BITCH!!!!! [link] :typerhappy:
~theonlyRedBaroness:icontheonlyRedBaroness: Jan 31, 2008, 9:25:21 PM
XD I found MOAR Wally video, but sadly, NO VOICE.

I PM'd the guy that put it up - perhaps he has voice of Walt.

If you hear a scream of joy, consider it a yes. XD

--
+Red Baroness+

"Where are my minions? I was promised minions!"

Propheads and Jetjockeys:[link]
~CWnerd12:iconCWnerd12: Jan 31, 2008, 9:38:34 PM
okay. I have a recording of Heydrich giving a speech but it's dissappointing. He sucked sooo bad at speech giving, even his wife said so. and there's vids of him on youtube so I'm happy.

--
"Falsehood can hold out against much in this world, but not against art." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

LOOK AT MY BLOG, BITCH!!!!! [link] :typerhappy:
Previous Page12Next Page

Site Map

©2009 deviantART. All rights reserved
About Us | Contact Us | Help & FAQ Advertise | Services Etiquette | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Copyright Policy