When We Say 'Hiroshima': Selected PoemsKurihara Sadako is one of the poetic giants of the nuclear age. Born in Hiroshima in 1913, she was in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. From then till now she has addressed her poetry primarily to issues of nuclear destruction, nuclear weapons, and nuclear power. Herself a victim of the world's first nuclear attack, she became the poetic conscience of the Hiroshima that was no more. But Kurihara turned her attention soon to more controversial issues, including Japan's role as victimizer in World War II. Many of her poems attack the Japanese government and its policies then and now.When We Say "Hiroshima" contains a selection of the poems Kurihara wrote between 1942 and 1989. They include meditations on death, on survival, on nuclear radiation, on Japanese politics, on American foreign policy, and on women's issues. |
Contents
Sachiko Dead in the Atomic Bombing | 3 |
On a Day of Powdery Snow | 11 |
Reconstruction | 18 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
alive Amid atomic bomb August sixth become began Black Eggs blood blossom blowfish blows blue body born buildings burned carry cenotaph ceremony cherries child Chugoku clear composed corpses critics dark dawn dead death died dream essays eyes face fall flag flowing forced front gently ground hand hear hell hibakusha human ideas inside issue Japan Japanese JULY Kurihara Sadako literature lives March mayor of Piroshima Michigan Midwives monument mother mountains Moving never night Nippon Notes nuclear OCTOBER once Park passed peace Piisu poems poet poetry Police political ravaged by flames river River flowing rubble ravaged ruins Say Hiroshima serenades shacks silent sing single soon sound stand summer Tadaichi thousands tion Tokyo Translated Translator's Introduction trees turn UNIVERSITY victimizer villages voices Water wind women writes