Nagasaki Poem by Sutapa Chaudhuri

rejection confines
the very fibre of life
bones chilled
frost bitten
flesh seared
bleeding
permeating tangible death
burnt shadows of bird life
etched deep
into exiled souls
unfeeling ashes
dig out callous imprints
on stone
mushroom clouds hover
dark threatening
hope shatters into tiny fragments
miniscule slivers hurt
piercing momentarily
hiding the burns inside
every atom
reduced to the bomb
just darkness remains
as a deep dull silence
reigns