"Morning on Oahu Island, Hawai'i,"

Morning on Oahu Island, Hawai’i
By Muriel Adams

Surrounded by peaceful blue waters, sandy shores.
Mountains under soft white clouds, happy sunny skies.
Fragrant orchids, moist still air.
Taste it, touch it.
Quiet, quiet.


7:55 a.m.

Clear sky rains bombs, angry, deathly darkness.
Harbor ablaze.
Burning fuel, burning bodies.
Smell the smoke.
Roaring, roaring, roaring.
75 minutes, hell on earth.
First Sunday, December 1941.