Little Boy

Part I

little boy
cold sweaty palm
thin fingers, age 10, strain
drip
three too-large holes
grey marble, weigh 16, strain.

strain spindle arms
strain shoulders, neck, and back
lift carry sway
thin lacquered wood lines

strain will to prove
over alley roar
of crashing pins
of rumbling balls
of sullen cheers
laughter, smoke
strain silence
mad heartbeats

courageous boy, let swing your ball!
small fingers, sweat slick
strain!

slip


Part II

Little Boy
Fat Man
plutonium-239

courageous boy, let swing your ball!

"Now I am become Death,
The destroyer of worlds."

Oppenheimer    -1967