Monday, October 23, 2023
Stop bombing and massacres in Gaza!
In a town full of
Debris left after an air raid
A cat is crouching
Alone with his whiskers cut
Looking up to the full moon
髭切られうずくまりいる猫独り
瓦礫の街の月を見ている
Hige kirare Uzukumari iru Neko hitori
Gareki no machi no Tsuki wo mite iru
Why can't we do anything like the cat in the above, witnessing the massacres in Gaza?
= Related News =
The tanka poems and drawing from "Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now!" by Kaoru Kobashi
https://hanabaku.blogspot.com/
Friday, October 13, 2023
In the morning on the 14th of October, 2023
As the season comes
When bombs fall glittering like
Snowflakes from the sky
Be sure to let children hide
And hole up with some bear cubs
爆弾が空から降ってくる年は
児らよ子熊と冬ごもりせよ
Bakudan ga Sora kara futte Kuru toshi wa
Kora yo Koguma to Fuyugomori seyo
The tanka poem was written thinking of a girl in Afghanistan in 2001.
Today, I am posting it thinking of a girl in Gaza.
Stop bombing! Stop killing! What we need is a ceasefire now!
= Related news =
‘Nowhere safe to go’: Confusion, fear after Israel’s warning to evacuate
The tanka poems and drawing from "Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now!" by Kaoru Kobashi
https://hanabaku.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
A poem written 20 years ago, which is still happening in the Middle East and elsewhere
The girl has just turned four years old
She has a dream
Of playing with a doll her sister treasures
The doll has blond ringlets
Sheeny in the sunshine
And eyes as blue as a clear sky
The red dress it is wearing
Is adorned with frills in tiers
"One day when I turn five years old,
I will ask my sister to let me hold the doll"
A dream of a little girl
"On my next birthday
I will comb the hair of the doll"
One day at dawn
An alert goes off and
Bombs fall down from the sky
The girl, the doll and her little dream
All have perished
All have gone
I wrote the poem 20 years ago thinking of a girl in Iraq. Today, I am posting it thinking of a girl in Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and the others not mentioned so much in the international news.
What we need is a ceasefire and dialog anywhere or anytime. We should learn that war has never been an answer.
Related news: https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/israel-palestine-conflict
On the 7th of October in 2023, the Israel- Palestine conflict "Gaza War" started and it has been causing thousands of deaths on both sides.
The poem and drawing from "Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now!" by Kaoru Kobashi
https://hanabaku.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 03, 2023
A poem about 22 years ago: October
He keeps making mud bricks,
Getting his shoes and sleeves stained
With grayish mud
Flip-flip-flop, flip-flip-flop
He is just nine
But his chapped hands covered with gummy mud are
Just like those of an old elephant
To the boy with his head low
A TV reporter from Japan spoke,
"Do you have a message to children in Japan?"
The boy withdrew his gaze and
Looked about the mud in a thoughtful mood
After a while he said,
"Hang in there and keep making bricks, guys"
Above his head
Is the blue sky, so high and reaching afar off
He droops his head low
And keeps making mud bricks
Flip-flip-flop, flip-flip-flop
I saw the boy on Japanese TV a few weeks before the US started attacking Afghanistan as the revenge of 911 terror attacks, while no terrorists were Afghans. Afghanistan had been suffering from drought and famine. Twenty-three years ago today, I was only praying that the attack would never start and no bombs would be dropped on the boy and anybody innocent as "revenge."
Postscript on 11th of October:
On 7th and 11th of October, large earthquakes hit Herat in Afghanistan and caused thousands of deaths. I can't do a lot, but some of my friends have been working to help people there for a long time, so I will find what I can do.
Related news:
Afghanistan hit by second earthquake in days https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67073958
The poem and drawing from "Flowers and Bombs: Stop the Violence of the War Now!" by Kaoru Kobashi
https://hanabaku.blogspot.com/
