20160806 (strange fire)

We'd already killed in Japanese cities as many as died in Hiroshima. We needed to show we could kill as many with one bomb as we had before with many.

People won’t let you talk about

The crucifixion no matter how 

Cleverly you fit it into the

Conversation. They can take 

A quick jocular reference but

They’ll speedily move along

Lest you get serious. No, keep

It light-hearted whatever the

Cause of your meeting. Death,

Religion, and politics are off

The agenda. Doesn’t matter if

You’ve broken out in stigmata.

Wear gloves, keep your

Hands to yourself. Here’s a 

Napkin and a rubber band.

Nobody wants to see your

Palm oozing red with every

Breath. This was supposed to

Be a night for fun, a good time 

Food and laughter. Let’s keep it

Light, not go digging into our

Souls just so you could play

Super-genius—“I know what

You don’t”—in the most

Outrageous manner possible.

We’re here to talk about friends,

Children, co-workers. Keep it

Where we can all feel good.

God, it’s like you always want

To talk about prisoners, torture,

War, and killing. Save it for your

Dreams. I don’t need your fears

To wake up screaming in the 

Night. I’ve got my own to choke

Down every day. Besides, whatever

You think, I don’t care. Didn’t care

Early on; don’t care now. Never

Cared. None of us. So quit your

Little show of extra sensitivity,

Extra knowledge. It was a 

Different time when they dropped

Those bombs. And they saved

The lives of a million boys who

Would have died invading the

Island. They were maniacs. They

Fought to the last one. They had

Miniature subs, kamikaze pilots.

It would have been a terrible 

Slaughter. But they were already

Asking for peace. They were 

Starving and beaten. Our own 

Generals advised against it--

Favored a demonstration 

Where no one would be killed. 

But our real politicians knew what

They wanted. They knew it would

Work but how effective would it be?

We had to show the Russians what

We had (though they already knew). 

We had burned as many before

Once we found our new expensive

High-flying bombers couldn’t 

Reliably destroy factories. No,

There are some things in life that

Call for massive, horrific death.

Something only old people and

Children burning in their homes

From a strange new fire

Could deliver.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016