The plane flew over Hiroshima and dropped the bomb
after the all clear warning had sounded.
The bomb dropped far slower than the speed of light.
It dropped at the speed of bombs.
From the ground it was a tiny silver speck
that separated from the silver plane.
After 43 seconds, the slow falling bomb exploded
into mass at the speed of light squared.
Einstein called it energy. Everything lit up.
For a split-second people could see their own bones.
The pilot always believed he had done the right thing.
The President, too, never wavered from his belief.
He thanked God for the bomb. Others did, too.
God responded with tears that fell far slower
than the speed of bombs.
They still have not reached Earth.
David Krieger
Dr. David Krieger is a leader in the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons and build a more peaceful world. He is a founder of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and has served as president of the Foundation since 1982. Amongst several of his wide-spanning leadership endeavours in global peacebuilding, he is a founder and a member of the Global Council of Abolition 2000, councilor on the World Future Council, and is the chair of the Executive Committee of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility. Dr. Krieger is the author of many books and studies of peace in the Nuclear Age. He has written or edited more than 20 books. He has also written hundreds of articles and book chapters. He is a recipient of several awards and honours, including the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology Peace Writing Award for Poetry (2010).