How miniscule and small I feel
To be here where, so long ago,
So many died. It seems unreal,
Yet in the soul of man, I know.
These remnants when disaster struck
Remain to tell their bit of woe,
But many lives ran out of luck
When fortune changed. How well I know.
The shadow burned into the wood,
The garment wherein someone died,
Immensity well understood
Yet hardly fathomed, deep inside.
How can I honor those who fell?
Apologize, for what man did?
Words compass not, I know too well,
Intractable, when they are bid.
Let me, anon, when death must come,
Remember them, so many gone,
And add my life, unto their sum,
With sadness for what man has done.