Atomic Ghost

Description

A collection of poems written in response to the atomic bombings of Japan and the Cold War in general. -//- August 6, 1945: a day when the world was changed. Thirteen thousand people were killed instantly in Hiroshima, and 90 percent of their city was obliterated. Three days later death again rained down, this time at Nagasaki, with radiation poisoning and slow deaths following. The ghosts of these two Japanese cities move like shadows over Americans, who fear for the safety of their children and the survival of the planet. They are also fearful and angry about official lies about the impact of nuclear testing on health and the environment. The poems in this collection speak honestly and elegantly on these points and more, exposing the nuclear fear that has spread into the core of our being. This is poetry as witness, from the conception of nuclear power to its testing ("talking of the danger/as if it were not ourselves/as if we were testing anything else," writes Adrienne Rich) to its inevitable, unbelievable conclusion. In these poems of witness, protest, prayer, and, perhaps, redemption, we hear compelling voices of the human spirit. Important for poetry collections. Louis McKee, Painted Bride Arts Ctr., Philadelphia