Anne Tammel
Saint Julian Press created this page to share an artistic and literary responses with Fukushima as the theme. Artists, poets, and writers are encourage to share their work on a special FaceBook page in a literary and artistic dialogue that promotes conversations and positive actions on Fukushima and a healing of planet earth, our home. Work submitted through the FaceBook page will eventually be shared here on these pages.
Tōhoku
March 11, 2011
The day the earth
moved eight feet
I wanted to slip my hands
into those waters,
shout:
no: swim—breathe!
I wanted to pull you
out among the kelp,
the lost and missing
souls, forgotten whales
and bones--
I dreamt of resuscitating you,
making you swim, reeling you
back, a tiny minnow reaching
toward the broken shore, a life--
summed up in
a
haplessly swimming tail.
I pictured myself
painting your broken buildings,
placing them carefully back
into that intricate set of structures
built on that ring of fire.
I wanted to run
to
those dark grey waters,
dig deep beneath their surface
through the mystery and muck
and sands of salvation
pull the entire earth
back onto its axis;
I wanted you to breathe.
Copyright 2011
Anne Tammel