Dear Laurel Harmony :

This short poem somehow summarizes the jaw-dropping devastation of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. For the first two weeks after this event occurred, I was glued to CNN and other news agencies regarding this catastrophe.

I still can't believe the widespread damage and loss of life. The worst disaster for Japan since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima! And now, there is no telling what will happen with the damaged nuclear plant, but I pray that another Chernobyl type meltdown does not occur.

Still, whole towns erased, so many missing, so many homeless. I remember the day when it was reported that over 2,000 bodies had washed up on shore. The ocean was giving up the dead back to the land where they came from.

I am so very glad to see that someone stepped up to write a poem about this event. I am still in a state of shock over what has happened...it is sickening that many of the dead can't be recovered because they are within the irradiated zone around the nuclear power plant.

I've seen so many images of survivors trying to control their emotions as they describe that their whole family is gone. They stand in piles of debris that was once their neighborhood, and what about the dog that led rescue workers to the injured dog? These are images and scenes that will never go away. So many little innocent children, now orphans.

Thank you for creating this neat, eye-opening poem. You're right ~ 'Wreckage' does look the same in all countries, but this one....this one pulls at our heartstrings more than many other disasters of late...

Good work!