Obon

I had fallen asleep, eventually dreaming of all the fun

We would have in the upcoming Obon festival,

Thinking of all the crackers we would burst,

And how Koichi and I would get to be awake till midnight,

Hours after midnight, my thirst woke me up,

As I came back with a glass of water,

Koichi slept there, thumb in mouth,

His baby face illumined by the softest glow of the moon,

And then, there was an infinite blackout;

I woke up minutes later, and it took me a while

To register what had happened -

As I stayed afloat in the air, I saw our house

Crushed to the debris and below a massive pile,

I spotted baby Koichi's hand, his little bracelet shining in the dark,

Above me, a fleet of airplanes rumbled past,

Floating away like a balloon, I caught a glimpse of my face

In the glass window of what used to be Azumi-san's house,

I let out a scream, but I didn't have a voice,

In a cruel game of fate, I was muted for all of eternity,

And then I caught a glimpse of Otosan,

His body burnt, and his face molten,

I remember walking down the lane,

Earlier that day, holding Otosan's hand,

He was singing Aozora Dochu,

While I was kicking random pebbles

That dared to obstruct my path;

Okaasan had promised to make

Udon and Tempura for lunch, and some Ume Daifuku too,

Otosan had taken me along to the market in the city,

He bought the most beautiful kimono

That I had ever owned - it was a gorgeous red silk kimono,

With beautiful golden stars woven into it,

When Okaasan saw it, she told I looked like Kinuyo Tanaka,

She laughed her beautiful laugh when she saw me blush,

While little Koichi tugged at my arm.

Before going to bed, Okaasan played the shamisen,

While I drifted off listening to the soothing strums,

And now, that's the only memory that I hold.

//NaPoWriMo, Day 8