Hiroshima

I often find myself skipping that nail biting
Teeth clenching
Groaning, cringing moment

(In my favourite movies;
In TV shows I have convinced myself to watch;

The nails on blackboard
Eyeball slice)

Because it is the aftermath that fascinates

I love the unravel, the unwind
I spend my life in nostalgic recollect

I don't remember euphoria;
Or trauma

(It is all silence and darkness)

I just remember the rush,
The thrill,
The crack and thud of bones

I don't need postcards or photos
There is no need for mementos

A simple acknowledgement is all you need

(There is no cake required)

People think they are apologising for a mistake
A slip in judgement, in kindness;
A fraction of a second

But fractures run deep;
They offer a bandaid and never think of the dry cleaning bill

Bruises fade but blood sets in Scarlet Letters

And people think they are giving fleeting, ephemeral joy;
But it stretches out into forever like the pink cricket sunsets

(I tried to think of something to add on, here;
But this is it, and I like that

Joy is beautiful even as it fades away)

Earthquakes
Kill; but it in the aftershocks that
Terror resides;

If you came into my life like an explosion;
If you were my Manhattan Project

And my singed pride melted into the melting ground and I;
Crazy;
Clawed at it and cried

I have all but forgotten the blast

It is the aftermath that devastates.
Scars linger after the blood dries.