Down, Down the Sea - 2 years later

Down, down the sea goes,
Pulling back from the city that was
The city no more.

Down, down the sea goes,
Carrying with it hopes, lives, dreams,
That are now gone.

Down, down the sea goes,
How many lost?
How many still to be taken?

Down, down the sea goes,
Pulling apart fragile strands,
Ripping, tearing the framework apart.

Down, down the sea goes,
Back to stillness, calmness
After all.

Down, down the sea goes,
Not healing wounds,
But pulling life.

Down, down again,
But in the ruins,
In the disaster

A single tree
Clings to rocks,
Clings to life.

***

Two years ago the earthquake hit the Tohoku area. It was 2:46PM, and I was at work. I was safe because I was far from the epicenter and the building I was in was built to resist that much energy.

That day 15,881 people lost their lives plus another 2,668 are still missing. Around 300,000 more were forced to evacuate because of damage to their homes and displacement because of radiation.

A few workers at the Fukushima plants have died as well tho none confirmed as of yet to have died due to radiation per se, but would they be alive had they not been there? In addition there have been deaths among rescue workers, cleanup crews, and Japanese military.

Nothing good comes from a disaster like this. There is nothing but loss and pain. I personally didn't know anyone killed, but I saw damage and experienced some on a very mild level. I heard from friends without water or electricity in the cold days after the quake. I saw the nation in anguish.

Time will not wipe away all the wounds. Some we never recover from. Some things, like especially the Fukushima nuke plants' gushing forth of radioactive materials, will cause more pain and suffering for decades. It doesn't matter if the cause isn't the radiation itself or "just" worries about radiation. The damage has been done and is going on.

Time will allow us, however, to look back on the past with clearer vision, hopefully to see better what is important. What we love and cherish, and what we miss. Look at how we live our lives and change it for the better, whether that means you take the time to contact loved ones more often, or we as a society work to find safer alternatives to nuclear power.

The past is important. What happened, who and what we lost must be remembered.

But we must also look ahead.