(For three voices)
I take the bullet from Kyoto/On the bullet from Kyoto/The train from Kyoto.
Drawn by some uncertainty,
Some disbelief, /Some disappointment,
Some disappointment,
/The business had gone badly in Kyoto./My business had gone badly.
/Some urge to feel
Some urge to feel /Something.
The weave of history.
/Something.
To guage its quality, judge its form, /To guage its quality, it’s form,
Stand gawking at it’s accusations. /To gawk at its accusations.
/A tourist in Hiroshima.
On a tram. /On the tram
/I sit next to an old man who caughs into a handkerchief.
His wheezing stinks of history. (x3)
The lasting legacy of war; /The legacy of war is
/Politely, with excruciating bows,
Cold concrete, /New concrete,
/He asks me why I’m here,
A haze of neon, /A neon haze
/And where now can we find the spirits of our dead?
A confusion of unquiet ghosts, /Echoes of ghosts
Silence tripping over tram tracks. /And silence, tripping over tram tracks
Someone coughs into a handkerchief. /The old man coughs into his handkerchief
/At the Peace Memorial
Children ring the bell. /I ring the bell
/And think about the sky that day