bomb
saying peace
The Diameter of the Bomb
The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimetres
and the diameter of its effective
range - about seven metres.
And in it four dead and eleven wounded.
And around them in a greater circle
of pain and time are scattered
two hospitals and one cemetery.
But the young woman who was
buried where she came from
over a hundred kilometres away
enlarges the circle greatly.
And the lone man who weeps over her death
in a far corner of a distant country
includes the whole world in the circle.
And I won’t speak at all about the crying of orphans
that reaches to the seat of God
and from there onward, making
the circle without end and without God.
Yehuda Amichai, translated from Hebrew by Yehuda Amichai and Ted Hughes
showing peace
image: Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash
doing peace
The theme today is global peace
War and Bombs have catastrophic effects for individuals, families and communities, but we often forget how wide-reaching these effects are. The poem shows how the damage done by a bomb starts in the crater but then extends outwards to the town, to the region, to other countries, and beyond.
think of a war that you know about and draw a picture showing the effects of a bomb in the centre, and then the widening circles of how this extends outwards
acts of love also extend outwards. Draw another picture, this time showing / imagining how a small act of kindness could extend outwards and ultimately contribute to world peace
discuss yours pictures with someone and compare the effects of a bomb with the effects of acts of kindness. What do you learn from this?