The Sun, a circle of fire, pulls On the Earth, a sphere of water, Who pulls back as Her ashen silver companion Raises and releases her tides As that same fire in the firmament Grabs the water of the deep circles Skyward the oceans, rivers and lakes Along with the round reflecting dew Are drawn from their terrestrial well To the highness of heaven— For only an instant —And then comes their fall in rain And silence But there are also fires deep, dark Within the Earth waiting to burst Like the fire held blazing in the hearts of men They erupt unpredictably into black barren land Their foul vapors and poisoned emissions Bring tears to eyes which stream and fall We know them all, all our cheeks have felt This scalding damp and it’s salty remains There is fire, there is water, there are ashes As the lightening attack breeds the firestorm A fire kindled in the confusion of hearts To heat the ovens where hate is burned From the snap of bones and crackle of skin Ashes like oceans, rivers and lakes Are pulled from those smoking stacks upward— For only an instant —And then comes their fall in rain And silence In fire and water and ashes A mother’s name Mrs Enola Gay The womb of that plane That birthed the bombs Downward the fire is struck like a match Those atoms torn into two Bring the brightest of flash To seal shadows against walls left half-standing, Those ashes rise in a mushroom plume— For only an instant —And then Earth with her weight pulls them back In rain and then silence There is fire, there are tears, ashes later A holy book mistook enrages A fire like inflamed seraphim That swoop and fall from the sky In an arousal of hate Bring down the dwellings of men The slam of metal upon metal Brimstone flames bring beams undone Breaks the bones, obliterates flesh Ashes arise in twin dusty clouds— For only an instant —Then the ash falls in tears of sorrow A rain of rubble and ruin stuns us all For more than an instant —Only silence after the rain.