Not as Bad as Nagasaki
Old Yoshiko in Tokyo can’t sleep
because her husband snores
so she sits in her kimono
and eats a few rice cakes
with a few sips of saké.
She thinks about the past
and then calls her daughter
in Chicago to remind her
that Truman’s bomb killed
almost all of her family.
Come home right away,
her mother tells her
as soon as you complete
your degree in chemistry.
Earthquakes and tsunamis
aren’t as bad as Nagasaki.
Donal Mahoney
