Hiroshima mon amour

Hiroshima mon amour

There were cornflowers and gladioli everywhere
morning glories and day lilies born again from the ashes
with an extraordinary vitality unheard of in flowers before then

I didn't make any of it up
Just as the illusion exists in love,
the illusion you can never forget
so I was under the illusion
I would never forget Hiroshima
Just like with love


Rain causes panic, the rain of ash on the waters of the Pacific
The Pacific turns deadly and its fishermen die
Food becomes an object of fear
An entire city's food is thrown away
An entire city rises up in anger
But against whom do they rise up in anger?
The anger of entire cities whether they like it or not
against the principle of inequality advanced
by one people against another
The principle of inequality advanced
by certain races against other races

Like you, I am endowed with memory
I know what it is to forget
Like you, I too have struggled with all my might
Like you, I longed for a memory beyond consolation
a memory of shadows and stone

For my part I struggled every day with all my might
against the horror of no longer understanding
the reason to remember, Like you, I forgot

Why deny the obvious necessity of remembering?

It will begin again

200,000 dead and 80,000 wounded in nine seconds
It will be 1 0,000 degrees on the earth,
Ten thousand suns, people will say
The asphalt will burn
Chaos will prevail

An entire city will be lifted off the ground
then fall back to earth in ashes

New vegetation rises from the sands
Four students await together, like brothers, a legendary death.
The seven branches of the delta estuary of the river Ota
drain and fill at their usual hour
with fresh water rich with fish, grey or blue
depending on the season and time of day

People along the muddy banks no longer watch
the tide slowly rise in the seven branches
of the delta estuary of the river Ota

I meet you
I remember you
Who are you?

You're destroying me
You're good for me.
How could I know this city was tailor-made for love?
How could I know you fit my body like a glove?

How unlikely, i like you.
How slow all of a sudden
How sweet
You cannot know.

I have time
Please, devour me
Deform me, to the point of ugliness

Why not you in this city and in this night?
so like other cities and other nights
you can hardly tell the difference?

I beg of you.

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