Beyond skin

On July 29th at 5:29 am,
The gadget turned the pre-dawn sky as bright as the sun,
as the first atomic mushroom cloud rose above the horizon

We knew the world would not be the same...
A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.
I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita…
Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty.
And to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says,
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.
I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."