A swarm of fighter jets whiz across the eastern skies
Trembling below
The city of wood and beauty
Serene gardens
Ten Thousand shrines
A life of millions
But then; disarmed and un-pickled
The planes just fly away
Was it the pilots
Was it the western cabinet
Was it the beauty of the gardens below
No one really knows!
Seventy years have gone since
Two big bombs fell elsewhere
Million lives lost to hatred
Cities burnt down to ashes
Urban Monsters have now taken their place
But down here
The temples stand tall against the cedar trees
The gardens are still tranquil and green
As an alien to this drowning civilization
I sit here by a temple pond
Beside me, carps swim and dance in a myriad of colors
As clear water ripples around their snouts and fins
The reflected sunlight shines and glitters
Standing in stoic silence
Stone lanterns and tea houses tell tales to one another as they relive the past glory
Another plane flies high now
A white streak is left behind as a trail
Slowly, like human history
As all the traces gently fade
The eastern sky is finally blue again
The Autumn rain has stopped now
But not the drizzle and spray
Heavy with the rain drops
The flowers of the morning bow down and sway
Perched on the wet branches, fluffing their features, the little sparrows chip away
As clear water glides over the smoothed pebbles
Lost in this sparkling beauty
Sitting under the shade of the cherry tree
I wonder !
How can this be!
Just another day!
The summer sky is cloudless
The garden is fresh and green
On a stone bench by a bamboo hut
I sit here drinking tea
In a distant hill a trail of smoke rises
In the canal beside me water gently flows
People in the road chatter
Cars rush by
As the world moves on within this tea cup
What else is left to say !
Trees sway against the mossy landscape
Clear water ripples amongst the lotus flowers
Embraced by the comforting beauty
In this garden of tranquility
I sit here seeking to write poetry
Nearby, in a temple by the brook
A little boy rings an ancient bell
People come and go in reverence
As the mountain air reverberates with the lost silence
Deep within
Stillness remains !
Cities burnt down to ashes 
