I think of the watches in Hiroshima that stopped at 8:15…what
does war do to time? That it is frozen, yet flowing? I look up at
the sky. A black kite circles, a cloud waits, the late-morning sun
slants at deliberate angles. 200 miles to either coast, then open
sea. There is nowhere to go. A second kite enters the frame.
They float together. Orbits only they can see. A student is dead,
far away from home, in a battle he wanted no part of. Still. Yet
moving. The cloud stretches. Straightening. A shroud. A moment.
The news is incessant. Time reaches for it with long arms. Have
you heard a kite cry into the quiet? Like a whistle. Like a siren.
THOUGHT PURGE 
Rajani your poem is an open wound upon our mother’s body. Your words brought this song to me:
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Thank you… am glad it resonated.. that song is good, isn’t it!!
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You’re welcome. It did, Rajani. The song fits these times so well I’m sorry to say 😦
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A powerful write.
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Thanks so much.
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To me, the black kite looks like the invader.
I was in Hiroshima, and when I looked at the atomic dome, the mind wanders back to that day at 8:15 a.m.
This is a short but powerful poem.
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Thank you. Ah that’s an interesting take on the kites. I want to read my poem again through that lens. And yes, the Hiroshima Memorial is profoundly moving. Plus seeing school kids there- taking notes, standing in silence, leaving origami cranes – it was all very emotional and heartbreaking.
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It’s altogether too much. I feel as if I can’t take it in, gazing blankly. Not because you wrote it badly but because you wrote it so well – indeed beautifully – and made it so real. (And I’m perhaps on overload from local events too.)
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Thank you, Rosemary. Even at this distance, constantly reading the war news and scrolling my twitter feed is numbing. Hope the rain and flood situation in Australia has eased with no serious damage. Stay safe.
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The a-bombs brought an end to massive conventional war by superpowers – so we’ve thought — and yet the black kite of war catches in every divisive draft until the sky feels like an inescapable swarm of kites. Every nation has its own entanglement in Ukraine, refugees and students, veterans of distant world wars, concentration camp survivors and displaced millions … all awakening in this coming night and afraid. How helpless we all are against ourselves.
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The sky is dark indeed, Brendan. And you’re right, we do feel helpless against ourselves… as humans, we know how to not do this, to not be like this, and yet… it never stops.
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Ominous, Rajani. It’s hard to believe it has come to this. I hope we find a peaceful way out, as the alternative is unthinkable.
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Too few decide for too many… too often. Hope is necessary because without it, we would have nothing. Thanks for stopping by, Ingrid.
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The thought of those kites lifted me for a moment. Interesting that the clocks stopped in Hiroshima…..and almost did last night too when the ukraine nuclear reactor was hit. A madman is running amok. Nafta is nuts if they think he will stop with ukraine. I think i have lived too long. Love your poem, Rajani. I am always happy when you link at earthweal. Smiles.
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Thank you, Sherry. Unfortunately, history is replete with madmen waging wars and causing incalculable destruction. The memorial at Hiroshima has many of those clocks and watches on display. Heartbreaking truly.
All war, all victims, all refugees- we need to be able to look at them through the same lens. All perpetrators too. Very sorry state of affairs indeed.
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I just love that close, the long arms of time and the crying kite.
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Thanks so much, Colleen.
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Your poem is deeply moving …. black kites.. slowly.
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Thank you, Helen.
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I contemplate that kite, above the fray humans cause. I am rendered almost without words, at this point. None of us are safe any more.
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Poignant and sad … so many kites float away, lost in space and time due to a low probability of humankind solving problems peacefully.
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Thank you… and you are so right… we learn no lessons and keep repeating the same ugly destruction.
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A poigant write Rajani
Much love
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Thank you, Gillena.
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“A student is dead,
far away from home, in a battle he wanted no part of.”
This thought is so chilling in its veracity. When it comes to war, those trapped in the fighting–without choices, without escape–are the ones who suffer most.
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Thanks Magaly. So true… and we’ve seen this in war after war and many don’t get the support they need even when they find a way to flee. Devastating how we’ve let it come to this.
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Sigh.
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Thank you for this poem that floated my mind above the chaos of human existence and gave me the opportunity to reflect on my part in this world.
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Thanks so much, Tio Stib.
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Very beautifully written and moving. Black kites are my special birds too!
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Thanks so much. Appreciate you stopping by and reading.
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Profound words
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Thanks so much, Celestine.
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Beautiful and poignant! Wars, will humans ever get rid of it?
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Thank you, Madhuri. And no, sadly doesn’t seem like we learn any lessons at all from history.
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