for Miyoko Matsubara
She bowed deeply. She bowed deeper than the oceans. She bowed
from the top of Mt. Fuji to the bottom of the ocean. She bowed so deeply and
so often that the winds blew hard.
The winds blew her whispered apologies and prayers across all the
continents. But the winds whistled too loudly, and made it impossible to hear
her apologies and prayers. The winds made the oceans crazy. The water in
the oceans rose up in a wild molecular dance. The oceans threw themselves
against the continents. The people were frightened. They ran screaming from
the shores. They feared the white water and the whistling wind. They
huddled together in dark places. They strained to hear the words in the wind.
In some places there were some people who thought they heard an
apology. In other places there were people who thought they heard a prayer.
She bowed deeply. She bowed more deeply than anyone should bow.
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).