Pause For Thought

by andrew149Southbourne, nr.Bournemouth, Dorset, England, UK

Aug 2011 436 Views 11 comments

Pause For Thought

Sixty six years ago today,
After 43 seconds of freefall,
A city was turned to trash,
So many people,
A poisonous mushroom of glowing ash,
Enola gay,
Had just given birth,
The chain reaction still goes on,
Nothing stands in it’s way.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Posted: Aug 2011

About this poem:

August 6th 1945 The Enola Gay, a B29 Superfortress dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima....It seems ironic that Japan is now still using the very power that nearly destroyed the country all those years ago......Only my personal opinion....Nuclear power, when the theory was born, was not meant to destroy......It was Einstein who foresaw what would happen....The rest is history.....A power that has saved so many lives and yet has taken so many too....Andrew...xxx

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Comments (11)

Macduff5Newcastle, New South Wales AustraliaAug 6, 2011

Hi Andrew,

A timely reminder of humanity's ability to destroy itself. The second one was dropped on the 9th of August,1945, if memory serves me. Cheers.

niah9Auckland, New ZealandAug 6, 2011

Such an important date, but unless I'd read it here, I wouldn't have known.....thanks Andrew for the reminder....Niah

PinkpoetressClarksburg, West Virginia USAAug 6, 2011

Andrew,
Thank you for the reminder. Nice write.

Poetnumber1St James, Port of Spain Trinidad and TobagoAug 6, 2011

nice write andrew

gnj4uBoston, Massachusetts USAAug 6, 2011

Hi, andrew149,
It is good to be reminded that while we have little control over the chain reaction once started, we do get to decide on the initial action taken. Thank you for giving us a moment to Pause For Thought.

country_lady67clarion, Pennsylvania USAAug 6, 2011

thank you for the reminding me of this historical date

andrew149OPSouthbourne, nr.Bournemouth, Dorset, England UKAug 6, 2011

Thankyou Mac......Andrew...

hedistuffLayopolis, West Virginia USAAug 6, 2011

Thanks andrew...But I'm puzzled, why are we still here? Knowing the history and reason (and lack thereof) of humanity, I'm only amazed that more nuclear weapons haven't been unleashed. I fear that time will erase that conundrum...that something will happen. Also, I will not point my finger at hot pocket countries about the globe, for I know only one nation to have used such a weapon against another. At that time, they may not have known the degree of danger and destruction they wrought, nor the apocalyptic potentiality that it allowed by raising it's weary head. But they soon learned, and they know now, and the world knows now. There are two kinds of people in this world...some that want to make love...and some that want to make war...so, most probably, such instruments of death will never disappear from the face of the earth...At least, not until man is gone...

MerriweatherAdelaide, South Australia AustraliaAug 6, 2011

Thank you Andrew,

I would never have remembered...

and 66 yrs ago is not really a long time .

mike7375Castleblayney, Monaghan IrelandAug 6, 2011

Thanks Andrew it certainly is an interesting debate. I think after Hiroshima if man had learned anything worthwhile then the existence of such weapons would have not been allowed to continue. At the same I suppose the fear and awe of such power probably prevents WWIII, an admission of the instability of human nature? A thought even scarier than the weapons themselves. My point being that would the major nations of the world be far less constructive with one another without nuclear weapons? Who knows..
But it is indeed ironic how the Japanese turned this energy into positive use, although then again after the Tsunami that same power threatened them once more.

purpledragonflyLeeds, West Yorkshire, England UKAug 8, 2011

Power and Destruction. Life and Death. a CIRCLE. Births of Inventions and outgrowing it's uses and purpose. It's all been said. Machines and computers eh. Thanks for the read.