Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembered

Northern Friends Peace Board

Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered

In August 1998 Wirral and Chester Monthly Meeting joined in the Flower memorial on Hiroshima day at the riverside in Chester, held a Walking Vigil in the shopping centre in Birkenhead and held a special meeting of readings and silence for Nagasaki at Heswall. Two things especially stay in my mind from these events, which I would like to share with you, writes Dai Owen. Firstly, at one gathering Mehr Fardoonji of Chester meeting, who is Indian, wore Pakistani costume, while her 92 year old aunt visiting from Pakistan wore Indian costume, to contrast with the nuclear fever in the subcontinent. Secondly, Chas Raws of Heswall meeting introduced the dropping of white flowers on the river and the period of silence for Hiroshima by reading his own poem. This was deeply moving. The poem follows:

Triptych Variations on a nuclear theme 1 And men said, Let us unleash the power which our equations promise. And power erupted in a mighty whirlwind in which God was not. And after the whirlwind an earthquake in which God was not. And after the earthquake a fire in which God was not. And after the fire - ashes, silence But a tear fell in the desert of ash. It was God who wept. 2 And men said, Let us manifest power as our minds have divined it. And power erupts in a searing light from which God is absent. And after the light, a pillar of cloud from which God is absent. And after the cloud, a holocaust from which God is absent. And in the ashes a silent question: Where, then, is God? No response but tears falling. Is it men who weap? 3 And men said. We believe in power and we will practice our creed. And men said. Let power be revealed. Its light blinded them to God. And men said. Let there be victory. Its cost numbed them to God. And men said. Let there be nothing. So nothing separated them from God. And in the nothingness a silent question: Are we now Gods? The answer, between falling tears: The words are yours.

Chas Raws