Paper Cranes
(for Anthony)
Paper cranes
yellow, red
orange origami
child-made cranes
strung like trawls of fish
in Nagasaki and Hiroshima
some fall off and
drift like autumn leaves
shrouding the countryside
like flames weeping
tumbling like autumn leaves
some fall off and
drop like tears
mourning the charred earth
like wailing widows
raining like silver tears
some fall off and
whisk away in the wind
speckling the dazed sun
like ashen memories
howling in the fiery wind
some fall off and
glide gracefully to the ground
thin, delicate
paper cranes
like snowflakes
falling to the ground
some fall off and
spread like cherry blossoms
pinken the brown earth
like gossamer on the horizon
papering the world with cherry blossoms
some fall off and
sail up to the sky
rising on blue wings
like dandelion dreams
floating up to the sky
some fall off and
make it back to America
scattering over the cities
like confetti
like multi-colored messages
paper peace cranes
swarming over America.