Sunday, August 07, 2005

Not to Celebrate, but to Remember

It is the 60th Anniversary. There will not be cake, ice cream, presents, or dancing. While the views differed and differ on necessity and implication, this is not a time or an event to celebrate.

What were we thinking?

"An excerpt from their poem, Floating Lanterns, reads: 'On August 6 every year, the seven rivers of Hiroshima are filled with lanterns. Painted with the names of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers... they float on their way to the sea. Almost there, pushed back. Flames snuffed out. Darkly coming back in pieces. Tossed by ocean waves. Years ago, the rivers were filled... not with floating lanterns, but with the corpses of those mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers.'"

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