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1.) September 21, 1945
“Looks like another one-
He’s a goner; you can see it in his eyes…”
Barely breathing, barely seeing-
I felt numb all over, a dull, shattering light-

…My sister…
On September 21, after it had all been done
I feel my mind… slip…
I’ve been racing with life all this time
And it looks like it’s finally won.

You stand beside me-
In spirit, in the night,
And the fireflies guide me
We’re going back.


2.) Ghost

A long way passed,
The rubbish of war;
The ghost of a building,
Stands unmoving, unknown.
A house has no spirit,
So no one knows it was there…
But I have a secret,
That was our home, we shared.

3) Air Fires
On the faithful day,
When embers fall from the sky.
Taking away everything,
I’d known throughout my life.

Today we’re running,
She’s tied to my back.
We’re afraid but not crying-
Fear jolts me along this treacherous track

Don’t let go… don’t let go… don’t let go…

4) Mother?
Mother,
You left before us.

I wonder perhaps,
Why you had to go.

Your heart was weak
Running would be hard

Did you take your medicine?
Your gentle breathing stops.

They took your body,
Your mangled up frame

They threw you away
Atop death’s claims

Mother,
You left before us.

5.) Don’t cry, child
“Mom is okay,” I lied,
My baby sister cried-
“I wanna see mommy!”

She hugged her knees as I stood there
Wanting so badly to comfort her
How would she take it if she knew?
I didn’t want to tell her the truth

Cheer up, little girl
I try to make her laugh…thinking, please…
Don’t despair…

6) Fruit drops

We were to live with our aunt,
In a different prefecture.

And I had hidden some food,
Deep down in the earth…
Before the bombs hit.

There was a whole lot of rice,
And a huge jar of pickled plums,
And there was a box of kimonos.

But most important,
A small red tin,
Within it, candy-fruit drops.

Small children,
Love sweets.

7.) Freeloaders

As we stayed,
With our father’s sister--
Days we played while living with her.

I was 12, my sister 4
What could we possibly do?
To help with the war.

I entertained my sister,
Songs and beach visits.
Fireflies she tried too hard to catch.

Time went on, and then my aunt said,
“Freeloaders, go to bed!”
My sister wailed for her mother.

Kimonos, they were our mom’s…
We sold them, and bought extra food-
Our aunt took half the profit.

But still she wanted more.
She verbally pushed,
Shoved, till I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“This is the last straw.”

We stopped living with her,
“Now I’m the boss.”

8.) Blindside, live like a focused drop

As we left, (to spite her she said)
My aunt looked after us in awe…
“Take care,” She said, uncaringly,
She assumed we’d go to other relatives.
But I didn’t really know where they lived.

My father once told me,
When I was a smaller kid
“Live your life to the fullest-
Become a focused drop.”
I was laughing at the time…
I didn’t know what he meant.

Today as me and my sister walk…
It almost seems peaceful,
Though we are alone:
Where is our father?
Is he waiting to come home?
I’ve written him many times—no reply.

Down by the river,
A shelter is built
My sister and I will stay there
Live life without any guilt.
We are no burden!

9.) Starving in a dying land
My mother’s money
In the bank
I took some out
Hoping I could pay
Food, bedding
For our small cave
I asked the farmer
“I don’t have much to give.”
So I bought a bit of food
Though it wasn’t as much as
You’d think.

Foraging, eating
My sister scratched her skin
Developing rashes

Are you okay?
“It hurts. I’m hungry”

Farmers wouldn’t, couldn’t
Be paid
They were hungry too, suffering…

10) Gentleness

Twilight, starry, moonlit night

Echoes of everything.

Here we are.

Lights flicker everywhere.

We catch them in a jar-

Watch them gather.

They brighten our faces.

They make everything bloom-

When the darkness became infinite…

They light the way.

Fireflies.

11) Family Pride

Money can’t buy food
If the entire country is starved
The price for a tomato?
One leg, one arm

I had enough money
But I wasn’t in the right place
I didn’t know where to go
I couldn’t… help it

I’m sorry.

12) Grave
Our lake, our lives
A fleeting break,
From blame and burden,
But things would change.

One morning, I found her..
Digging in the ground.
Her small hands shoveled,
Dead fireflies we’d found.

“Why do they have to die so fast?”
She asked in a faraway tone,
Life isn’t made to last forever…
“Our aunt told me mother’s in a grave too…”

“We’ll go visit her someday…” I counseled…
Behind my eyes,
I saw a grave not unlike the one she’d dug,
So many thousands dead…
Mother was one of them.

13) Thievery

Hunger…
So hungry.
Dirt tastes like chocolate cake-
I’d do anything for just one plate-
Just one.

Rashes
Red, all over
Her skin, her baby skin
She’s gotten so very thin
So sick

Doctor, doctor-
Save her life,
Medicine for her?
Food nutrition of life…
How do I get that?

Farmer’s goods, all over, unguarded
Thievery! It’s okay…
Nobody is around to say “no”

I’m so ashamed, so
Very
Ashamed

Father, what would you say?

14) Caught

I wondered through the starlight
Trying to find just one more morsel-
For my sister and I to share

In my eye shines a stray light,
A yell and a dash, not alright
By the farmer I’ve been found

Dodge and beg and-
Get punched around.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
I’m drug off the ground.

Police man.
Juvenile delinquent
The officer knows my gloom
Sends the angry protagonist away.

He says, “Would you like to stay?”
But I’m already
Gone.

15) Father’s Lies

The war is over?
Have we won?
Where are all of our soldiers?
How long has it been done?

The war is finished,
No we did not win-
Our soldiers, all dead
It’s been 3 months since then.

I was already broke,
Clinging to false hope.
I took my money and…
Returned, hiding tears from Setsuko.

16) She’s gone…

Warnings are as silent as snow
We ignore them, we won’t give
In.

She looks peaceful…
Sucking on… candy?
No, that’s a marble…

“Don’t worry,” I panic, “I’ve brought food.”
I scramble to prepare…
I try to feed her a bit of it…
But there’s no will to live in there…

She closes her eyes, and slumber sets in
Her breathing is shallow; her heart still beats within
But I already know it’s too late
Come next morning, she won’t wake.

Cremation,
Ashes spared in a fruit tin…
I took her with me…I left the cave.

I ran so far away.

17) Home Sweet Home

Of all the places,
On this earth.

Of all the adventures,
We have since birth.

Where we return to,
Where we call home—

Seems to be the most important…
Seems to be what we treasure more.

Home isn’t physical,
It’s not house painted red.

Home is who we love and
Where we can rest our heads.

Dreaming…

I can now return home.