Kansai Airport 3 a.m.
October 12, 2019
The runway is dark — no flights in or out today
in the distance crackling lightning races across the sky
and pierces the curtain of tumbling raindrops
tossed by the unrelenting howling wind
the strobe blinds me and etches the outline of my body
against my bedroom wall for a fleeting second
then the rumbling boom rattles my window
scattering echoes like scudding waves around me
The room is dark — sleep eludes me tonight
a swirling storm in the deepest recesses of my mind
is tossing spinning monochromatic images
of Hiroshima Shadows etched on city walls and sidewalks
by that deadly blinding scorching atomic blast
pulsing a million red-hot typhoons for an eternal second
I yearn for the soothing embrace of warm onsen waters
but I am bathing in shivering emotional turmoil
* Inspired by Mel’s visit to Hiroshima and the typhoon that delayed her departure from Kansai Airport