ここから広島の郊外

夏草の残る練兵場

午前八時十五分

少年はこんなに朝早くから

昆虫でも探しにやってきたのだろうか

突然

一条の閃光が少年を貫いた

彼は一本の火柱となった

一瞬　炭素と化した少年は

焦土に大の字に横たわり

空洞の眼を大きく見開いて

天を睨んだ 空洞の口を大きく開いて天に叫んだ

母を呼んだか

兄弟を　友を呼んだか

痛みの叫びか

一本の歯もない

一本の爪の白ささえない

からからに炭と焼かれた少年を

なおも天と地の炎熱が焦がしつづける

 

 

The Young Boy

Here on the outskirts of Hiroshima

In the military parade grounds overgrown with grasses

At a quarter past eight

A young boy

Has he come looking insects

So early in the morning?

Suddenly

A flash of light strikes the boy

Turning him into a pillar of fire

Instantly reduced to charcoal

He falls to the scorching ground

Legs splayed, arms outstretched

Black, hollow eyes glaring up at the sky

Mouth gaping upwards in a silent scream

In he calling out for his mother?

For his brothers, sisters or friends?

Or screaming in agony?

Not one single tooth

Or fingernail even,remaining

Still the blazing inferno continues to burn

The charred remains of the young boy

 

                                (Translated by Susan Bouterey)