DECEMBER 7, 1941

Digitalized Photo by S. Auberle

I imagine my mother that night--

December 7, 1941,

listening to the radio:

Glenn Miller’s String of Pearls,

Edward R. Murrow, wishing the world

good night and good luck,

breaking news…

the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

My mother’s hands are folded

on the mound that is me,

that pulsating cord connecting us.

Do I sense her fear,

feel the tightening, the pain? 

Beneath her dress I float,

extending a hand, a foot now and then,

wanting reassurance, perhaps

that all will be well

and my mother strokes her belly,

thinking of Japanese women

and their babies soon to be born,

as I will be three months later…

I have not yet lived long enough

to see world peace.

So many never have the chance.

 

~mimi