It shouldn’t be surprising
Any more than the white thunder that flattened Hiroshima
Shouldn’t have been a surprise for the civilians sacrificed
At peace’s altar
Blasted piecemeal into a moment crystallized forever
Then repeated and repeated
With the schoolyard glee of boys armed with limitless firecrackers
Enough to blow up atolls and islands
Turning paradise into a chronic wasteland
Remembered in the half life of swimsuit fashions
Celebrated with an improbable mushroom cloud cake
Cut into by atomic admirals
Eating up devil’s food with abandon and blind faith
Not the angel puffs they were told about
Unaware of the repercussions of crazed meals and crazed militarism
Fracturing realities with cosmic hammer blows
Smiling for the camera and posterity
In a poisonous celebration of violence
David Trudel © 2013
Photo taken November 5, 1946 at the Officer’s Club of the Army War College, Washington, D.C. at an event named “Salute to Bikini”
Photo credited to Harris & Ewing Photo Studio, published in the Washington Post November 7, 1946
Holy crap, cannot believe they did this.
No kidding. It was a shock to see the photo and I felt compelled to add my poetic comment.
Those comments worked very well. Wow. A cake celebrating our ability to completely destroy ourselves and our planet.
I know. It seems like a bizarre thing to do, even given the context of the WW2 ethos. It became a controversial talking point back in the day and may have started to raise some “ban the bomb” consciousness.
Wow, that is pretty shocking!
Sure is.
Reblogged this on kjmhoffman.
Thanks for the reblog!