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?