Behold Nagasaki, Hiroshima
their mountains splendid with atomic fire
their peoples transfigured
by atomic blast,
their survivors
writhing in the valley
begging some splendid Christ
to touch and make whole.
Behold the radiant Bomb:
defying the law
Behold, and be struck dumb
by unspeakable terror.
Feast of Disfiguration borne not of the mountain’s vision
but of dumb demons refusing to see in other—
sister and brother
seeing only
enemy
building always walls
to keep the other out . . .
“Now there are only two ways to walk:
Toward the radiance of the transfigured Christ
or the radiance of the Bomb.”……
towards the radiance that glorifies,
or the radiance that vaporizes.
“This day I set before you life and death, a blessing and a curse:
Choose this day
whom you will serve.”
–Martha Keys Barker
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