At ground zero
more than 80.000 died
in the blink of an eye;
children, women, elderly
vaporised instantly.
A supersonic shockwave
then travelled for three kilometres,
flattened walls, crushing all.
Flying debris perforated
organs and cracked skulls.
Survivors, in the tens of thousands
that suffered severe scorched flesh
and impaired vision due to the bomb's blinding flash
of heat and light, succumbed within days.
Truman said that Little Boy*
would save millions of soldiers,
others that it was used to test its effects
and keep the commies in check.
The atomic bomb did end the gore,
a 5 year war but it also marked the start
of a new scary page, the atomic age,
in the history of mankind.
Coined the Cold War,
the nuclear arms race between
the US and Russia began;
more powerful bombs, rockets,
missiles were constantly in the make.
In 1962, the world quaked, global peace was at stake.
Russia wanted to install missiles in Cuba
but America said ; "No way"
The Soviets backed off
after a tense 13 day stand off.
Then in 1986 the world shaked in the wake
of a nuclear mishap caused by the Russians;
At Chernobyl a reactor exploded
and Europe was exposed to radioactive fallout.
That incident was a reminder of the threat
nuclear weapons represented.
Today the same threat hovers over our heads
as America and Russia are once again at odds.
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