by Anita Osuri
Nanking 1937 - The Oppressed
She with the jet black hair
A bobbed cut veneers her tension
Every sound might be the Japanese
With their red circle of fury
Their nonchalance stampeding
Their guns as toys in their game
Stripped of humanity
She is the rat and he is the cat
Screams of women afar
Naked bodies lay in droves
Are those slaughtered pigs or her family?
Her daddy never returned
She dashes into the safe zone
Heart pounding
Adrenaline running
Will she make it in time?
Or will she be slaughtered like a piece of meat?
A naked woman with limp arms lays beside her
As she runs
In silence.
Hiroshima 1945 - The Oppressor
She with the jet black hair
Bangs cover her fear like a shield
The screams of people in the distance
Dancing flames of fire taunting her
But in her heart is ice
A tear trickles down her face
A will to breathe amidst the black dust
A mess of dark shadows
Covers the existence
Of personal stories
People left as only wraiths
The buildings as cages to trap stragglers
Lives crashing below
She recalls her father
Disappeared like smoke for the dear emperor
To battle those unknown
Will he come back?
A lifeless body lays beside her
As she stands
In silence.
United States 2020
Me with the jet black hair
Staring at the ruined pictures
Black and white faces of horror
My multicultural background
Aches of sorrow
We are all oppressors and the oppressed
The beauty of life
Tarnished in an instant
Boiling hatred and fire
Permeates the air
Killing of innocents
Discrimination upon superficial ideas
The soul of the human race
Disintegrated into Earth
Recycled to the Ocean
Everything rolls on
As I mourn
In silence.